First-class contract

After impressing coaches at the NCA, Irfan got several offers from first-class teams including Habib Bank and ZTBL. However it was KRL opener, Azhar Ali, who convinced KRL coach Rashid Iqbal to give Irfan a trial with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). Azhar had seen Irfan take 4 wickets against Pakistan A and had immediately called KRL telling them that Irfan would be a good fit for their team. Irfan went for the trial and got selected.

He made his first-class debut in the QEA Trophy in October 2009 playing for Khan Research Laboratories. He bowled economically but was unable to take any wickets in a high scoring game. In his second first-class game, Irfan took 7–113 in the second innings and 9 wickets overall in the match. His first wicket in professional cricket was of young Pakistani international batsmen Ahmed Shehzad. He also took the wicket of Imran Farhat and injured Hasan Raza with a bouncer before taking his wicket.

Irfan continued to impress early on in his first-class career. In his third match he grabbed 11 wickets to help his side to the first win of the championship. He recorded 5/27 in the first innings and 6/96 in the second innings.

Before he was offered a lucrative break in cricket, Irfan contemplated giving up the game and was working for a plastic pipe company. He confirmed his height as 7'1" which makes him the tallest first-class cricketer of all time above county players Anthony Allom, Paul Dunkels and Will Jefferson, each individually measured at 6'10".

T20 franchise career

Irfan announced that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to represent them in the 2011 IPL Season. This deal is only valid as long as the PCB and the BCCI give their approval. The main reason for Irfan being given a trial with KKR was because former Pakistani pace-bowler Wasim Akram recommended Irfan to the KKR management. Irfan's contract will earn him $75,000 plus another $2,000 dollars for every game he plays in. However the contract needs to be approved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India Irfan's contract also requires approval from the Pakistan Cricket Board^[12]

On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Edmonton Royals in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.^[13]