MS Dhoni at US Open Sparks Buzz as Hookah Controversy Returns to Spotlight

During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi’s statement came out in the media that Irfan wasn’t bowling well. I thought I had bowled well throughout the series. So, I went and asked Mahi about this. Sometimes, the statements are twisted in the media, so I wanted to clarify. So, Mahi said, ‘No Irfan, there is nothing like this. Everything is going as per plan.’ When you get a reply like that, then you believe that you must continue your work. Also, if you keep asking for explanations again and again, you hurt your self-respect.

Irfan Pathan via Sports Tak back in May 2020

Pathan, in the interview had given everyone a glimpse into the statements made by MS Dhoni back in 2008 about his bowling. He stated that Dhoni’s statements in the media were different from what he had told Pathan otherwise.

However, as he continued to dive deeper, Pathan further stirred the post suggesting a controversial criterion for team selection. Pathan suggested that many players were in the team because they would set up the hookah for captain Dhoni and Pathan would not do that.

I don’t have a habit of setting up a 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.

Irfan Pathan added

This old clip of Pathan has stirred a massive conversation on social media with fan wars starting once again. Amid all this chaos, Dhoni made his first public appearance in a while when he was seen watching the US Open.

Irfan Pathan replies cheekily as the old interview sparks fresh controversy

Thousands of memes regarding the two players and selection criteria back in the Dhoni captaincy era are doing the social media rounds with fans adding their two cents. Amid all this chaos, Irfan Pathan took to X and replied cheekily on the whole situation.

Half decade old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the Statement. Fan war? PR lobby?

Irfan Pathan via X

Pathan’s statement clarified two things. Firstly, that the video was almost five years old and secondly its resurfacing has come with a change in context. Pathan suggests with his recent tweet that the comments made five years ago had a completely different context to how they are being perceived today.

Many are aware that Pathan has been very vocal in recent times about how he has always disliked star culture in Indian cricket. The grand stature of MS Dhoni in Indian cricket has given him a star status and a massive fan club of his own.

Pathan with these terms has cheekily suggested if one of the big fan bases in modern day cricket have intentionally resurfaced this video in a bid to start a new fan war. He also suggested that if it is another PR stunt to gain popularity and be relevant by one of the high-profile names in Indian cricket.