NEW DELHI: When Irfan Pathan burst onto the international scene in 2003, he was touted as one of India's future bowling greats thanks to his ability to swing the ball both ways. The left-arm pacer quickly showcased his talent with some lethal spells in the early part of his career.
However, his progress suddenly stalled, and his international journey came to an abrupt end despite taking a five-wicket haul in his last ODI against Sri Lanka in 2012. Former India captain MS Dhoni is believed to have played a role in Pathan's exile, as the all-rounder revealed details of candid conversations he once had with Dhoni regarding his place in the team.
An old interview clip of Pathan, recorded five years ago, has resurfaced on social media, reigniting the debate.
Yes, I asked him. During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi bhai's statement came out in the media that Irfan wasn't bowling well. So I thought I had bowled well throughout the series, so I went and asked Mahi bhai about this. Sometimes, the statements are twisted in the media, so I also wanted to clarify. So Mahi bhai said, 'no Irfan, there is nothing like this, everything's going as per plans.' When you get a reply like this, then you believe that okay, you do what you can. Also if you keep asking for explanations again and again after that, you hurt your self-respect," he said in the interview with SportsTak.
Pathan also took a jibe at Dhoni, making it clear that he could not please anyone by setting up a hookah in someone's room.
"I don't have a habit of setting up hookah in someone's room or talking about this. Everyone knows. Sometimes if you don't speak about it, it's better. A cricketer's job is to perform on the field and that is what I used to focus on," he further said.
Over the course of his career, Pathan featured in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is for India. He scored 2,821 runs across formats, registering one century and eleven fifties, while with the ball he picked up 301 wickets, including a memorable Test hat-trick against Pakistan.
