Former India player Irfan Pathan has reignited his strained relationship with MS Dhoni, commenting on his surprising India snub despite decent performances.
Irfan Pathan, who had a stellar start to his India career, slowly faded out of the international scene. Despite performances, Pathan was zoned out of the squad under then captain MS Dhoni.
Recently, in a video interview with journalist Vikrant Gupta, Pathan indicated the decision of him getting dropped stemmed from Dhoni. While speaking, the Baroda player cited an incident which happened way back in 2008 during an Australia tour, where there were media reports of him not bowling well.
"I asked him (MS Dhoni) once during Australia series when a statement from Mahi came that Irfan Pathan is not bowling well. As twisting comments sometimes happen on media, I asked him how I can improve myself, but Mahi said,'Everything is going fine Irfan, nothing is wrong'", Pathan said.
"But those same things kept on happening and I couldn't ask for the same explanation. Because the Pathans love their dignity," he added.
After this, the former India player blasted Dhoni indirectly. Without taking any name, he mentioned that he didn't have the habit to set up Hookah for someone else in their hotel rooms.
"Dekhiye, humse naa to room me jaa ke kisi ke liye Hookah set kaarne ki aadat hain (Look, I don't have the habit to go to someone's room and set up Hookah)," Pathan continued.
Although he didn't mention Dhoni's name, the sly looks targeted at the CSK supremo. MS Dhoni was spotted smoking hookah in a viral video that surfaced online in early 2024. The video showed him at a party, dressed in a suit, enjoying a hookah pipe. This was not entirely surprising to some, as his former Chennai Super Kings teammate George Bailey had revealed in 2018 that Dhoni likes smoking hookah or sheesha occasionally and used it as a way to bond with younger players in an informal setting.
