'Mai aur MS Dhoni saath baith kar piyenge': Irfan Pathan breaks silence on 5-year-old hookah controversy

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has finally addressed the controversy surrounding his past ‘hookah’ remark on MS Dhoni, which recently resurfaced and went viral on social media. The remark, made jokingly years ago, has now stirred debates online, prompting Pathan to clear the air. Pathan, who was the Player of the Match in India's 2007 T20 World Cup triumph, played his last international match in 2012 and announced his retirement at the age of 35 in 2020. The left-handed all-rounder was once touted as the next big fast-bowling all-rounder after Kapil Dev, but recurring injuries and limited opportunities in the latter part of his career stalled his progress. Irfan Pathan opens up on resurfaced hookah controversy with MS Dhoni.(Instagram/irfanpathan_official)

The clip of Pathan's interview with SportsTak resurfaced years later, where he stirred controversy by alleging that Dhoni smoked hookah and favoured those who joined him in those sessions, It went viral on social media and sparked fan wars and heated discussions online. Some accused Dhoni of bias in team selections, while others slammed Pathan for tarnishing the former captain’s image.

Pathan decided to take it sportingly, joking about the matter when a fan tried to pull his leg on a birthday post for Mohammed Shami.

A fan wrote, "Pathan bhai woh hookey ka kya hua???"

To which the former all-rounder replied, “Mein or @msdhoni sath Beth kar pienge;).”

Irfan Pathan breaks silence on hookah controversy

Pathan also weighed in on the resurfacing of the video, hinting at possible PR agendas and fan wars as the driving force behind its sudden reappearance online.

"Half decade old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the Statement. Fan war? PR lobby?" Pathan wrote on X.

In that old interaction, Pathan reflected on the limited opportunities he received, recalling the 2008 CB series when he confronted Dhoni over media reports suggesting the captain wasn’t pleased with his bowling. The clip grabbed headlines as Pathan also hinted that Dhoni smoked hookah and showed a preference for players who joined him.

“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," Pathan said.

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