It’s been over five years since Irfan Pathan last opened up about the controversy surrounding his exit from the Indian national team in 2012. His final stint in international cricket came under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, where he even picked up five wickets in his last ODI. The exact reasons for his sudden omission remain known only to the selectors.
In a 2020 interview with Sports Tak, Pathan recalled a conversation he had with Dhoni during the 2008 Australia series. At the time, reports in the media suggested that Dhoni had questioned his bowling form. Pathan felt he had performed well and sought clarification directly from the skipper.
“Yes, I asked him,” Pathan revealed. “Sometimes, media statements get twisted, so I wanted to be sure. Mahi bhai told me, ‘No Irfan, nothing like that, everything is going as per plan.’ When you get such an answer, you trust it and focus on your work. If you keep pressing for explanations, it can hurt your self-respect.”
However, Pathan also took a subtle dig at Dhoni, suggesting he wasn’t the type to spend time in the captain’s room socializing. “I don’t have the habit of setting up hookah in someone’s room or engaging in such things. Everyone knows this. For me, a cricketer’s job is to perform on the field, and that’s what I focused on,” he remarked.
Though this revelation was made years ago, the comments recently resurfaced online, sparking a fresh wave of memes centered around the ‘hookah’ remark.
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