Be it on the field or now in the commentary box, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan isn’t known to mince his words. Some of his remarks in the commentary box have even gone on to hurt his career as a cricket pundit.
In an interview, Irfan donned his most candid avatar yet, as he shed light on some of the most controversial topics of his career. During the chat, Irfan also shed light on his equation with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and the sort of behaviour he had to deal with during his tours with the Indian team to the other side of the border.
In the interview, Irfan launched the most unfiltered attack on Pakistanis yet, saying they feel as if the responsibility of the entire Muslim population of the world falls on their shoulders.
“Ek toh Pakistaniyo ko na ye lagta hai ki saare jo musalman hai duniya ke unki jo zimmedaari hai unhone le rakhi hai (One thing about Pakistanis is that they feel as if they’ve taken responsibility for all the Muslims in the world),” Pathan said in a chat with The Lallantop.
“Ye unki galat fehmi hai (That’s their misconception). Jo mujhe lagta hai yaar thoda thehro, apne aap pe thoda phle dhyan do (What I feel is – hold on a bit, first focus on yourselves).” “I’ve felt this at a personal level.”
Irfan also shed light on some of his off-the-field incidents with Afridi, who called himself the ‘real Pathan’, while labelling Irfan as the ‘fake one’.
“Dismissed him 11 times. I have a different kind of fight with him [Afridi] because when I was new and young in the team, there was an interview of Afridi with Harsha Bhogle,” Pathan said. “Afridi had said, ‘I am the real Pathan, he is a fake Pathan’. Badtameez aadmi hai (He is an ill-mannered man). Mujhe laga ki aap sirf mere baare mein nahi bol rahe ho, mere waalid ke baare mein bhi baat kar rahe (I felt he wasn’t just talking about me but also about my father, which he shouldn’t have done).”
“Toh jab jab mere haath mein ball tha, mere jahan mein yeh tha ki isko toh main out kar dunga (So whenever I had the ball in my hand, my only thought was that I would dismiss him). Maine out karke usko gyara baar bata chuka hoon ki asli Pathan kaun hai (By dismissing him 11 times, I’ve shown him who the real Pathan is). Bade bade maukon mein out kiya hai – series decider mein, World Cup final mein (I got him out on big occasions – in a series decider, in a World Cup final),” he added.