'A cricketer's job is to perform on the field and that is what I used to focus on.'
More than a decade after his sudden exit from international cricket, Irfan Pathan is back in the news -- not for his swing bowling, but for a viral old interview.
Despite taking a five-wicket haul in what turned out to be his final ODI, he was soon sidelined. While the exact reasons remain known only to the selectors and team management, then skipper M S Dhoni has often been blamed for mishandling the all-rounder's career.
In the resurfaced clip, Irfan recalls his conversations with Dhoni and makes a cheeky 'hookah' remark that has fans guessing and memes flooding social media.
Speaking to SportsTak, Irfan recalled a candid conversation he once had with Dhoni in 2008, after hearing media chatter that the captain wasn't happy with his bowling.
'During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi bhai's statement came out in the media that Irfan wasn't bowling well. So I thought I had bowled well throughout the series, so I went and asked Mahi bhai about this. Sometimes, the statements are twisted in the media, so I also wanted to clarify.
'So Mahi bhai said, 'no Irfan, there is nothing like this, everything's going as per plans.' When you get a reply like this, then you believe that okay, you do what you can. Also if you keep asking for explanations again and again after that, you hurt your self-respect,' Irfan said.
The most talked-about part of the interview, however, was when Pathan stressed that he was never the type to curry favour off the field.
'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,' he added.
That single remark was enough to send social media into overdrive. Fans flooded X with jokes and memes, speculating on who Pathan might have been hinting at.
While Irfan never named anyone, many linked the comment to Dhoni, whose hookah videos had gone viral years earlier.
With 'hookah' now trending, X is having a field day.
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