A year after his elder brother Yusuf Pathan joined politics and went on to win from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district for the Irfan Pathan too, has shown interest in following his brother’s path.
A year after Yusuf Pathan’s historic victory for the Trinamool Congress from West Bengal’s Baharampur—ending the two-decade-long reign of Congress stalwart Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury since 1999, his younger brother, Irfan Pathan, has also shown interest in the same path. In a candid conversation with The Lallantop, the former India all-rounder was nudged about his political ambitions. With a smile, Irfan countered with a question of his own: “Aapko lagta hai aana chahiye? (Do you think I should join?)”
Moments later, he said, “Mai jo bhi karoonga apni zindagi mey… aage jaa ke ya abhi hamesha difference paida karne ke liye karoonga aur agar nahi kar paaya toh nahi karoonga (Whatever I do in my life—whether now or in the future—I will always do it to make a difference. And if I cannot make a difference, then I won’t do it at all).”
For fans, this cryptic remark has sparked intense speculation: Is Irfan preparing to follow Yusuf into the political battlefield?
Irfan’s illustrious cricketing journey
Irfan’s illustrious cricketing journey onto the international stage started in 2003 as a teenage prodigy, and he was hailed as India’s answer to Wasim Akram. His ability to swing the new ball with venom, coupled with handy lower-order runs, drew parallels with Kapil Dev. His hat-trick against Pakistan in the 2006 Karachi Test remains etched in cricketing folklore, while his match-winning spell in the 2007 T20 World Cup final sealed his reputation as a man for the big occasion. Across 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is, Irfan scalped 301 wickets before bidding farewell to international cricket in 2020.