Irfan Pathan breaks silence after old video on MS Dhoni triggers ‘hookah’ controversy

by

New Delhi: After a five-year-old video of him taking an indirect ‘hookah’ swipe on MS Dhoni resurfaced on social media, sparking a controversy, Irfan Pathan took to social media on Wednesday to break his silence on the matter. In a post on X, Pathan wondered how a five-year-old video has gone viral all of a sudden and questioned if it is due to fan war or PR drive.

Pathan’s tweet comes after his comment from an old interview went viral on social media, sparking a huge debate. During the interview, Pathan had said he was not one of the players who would set hookah for someone in their room, taking an indirect jibe at Dhoni. Ever since the clip has gone viral, Pathan’s comments have sparked a meme fest among cricket fans on social media.

“Half decade old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the Statement. Fan war? PR lobby?,” Pathan tweeted on Wednesday.

What is the ‘hookah’ controversy?

It all started after an old clip of Pathan’s interview with Sports Tak went viral on social media. In the clip, the former Indian pacer can be seen talking about his exclusion from the Indian team and the lack of chances under former captain MS Dhoni. Pathan last played for India in 2012 and took 5 wickets in his final ODI against Sri Lanka.

Pathan made his India debut in 2003, a year before Dhoni and quickly became a rising star in Indian cricket. He was part of the squad that lifted the 2007 T20 World Cup under Dhoni’s captaincy in South Africa. However, Pathan’s struggles began a couple of years after the tournament, and he eventually failed to make the cut in India’s 2011 ODI World Cup-winning squad under Dhoni.

During the interview from 2020, Pathan spoke about his discussions with the Indian selectors and Dhoni on why he was not being picked regularly in the playing XI. In the same interview, he also took an indirect dig at the former India captain, suggesting that Dhoni used to favour players who would smoke hookah with him in his room, and that he was not one of those.

Here is the video:

Pathan’s comments from his old interview have led to criticism for the former pacer, with many highlighting how his own brother, Yusuf Pathan, was selected over him in the squad for the 2011 ODI World Cup purely on performances. Yusuf was part of the playing XI in the final, where India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to lift their second ODI World Cup title after 28 years.

Dhoni, one of India’s most successful captains of all time, is often credited with backing youngsters and helping in building a core that earned success for India even after he left captaincy. Dhoni backed the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane, among others, all of whom played a key role in India’s success over the years.