Indian cricket is currently abuzz with a five-year-old video of Irfan Pathan where he can be seen talking about his exit from the national side under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. While in the first part of the video, Pathan talks about his interaction with Dhoni regarding his position and performance in the team, in the latter part he goes on to say: “I don’t have a habit of setting up hookah in someone’s room or talking unnecessarily. Everyone knows. Sometimes, it’s better not to speak. A cricketer’s job is to perform on the field, and that’s what I focused on.”
Social media users connected the ‘hookah’ part of the quote with MS Dhoni, and from there, the video started getting widely shared. Pathan last played international cricket in 2012, despite picking up a five-wicket haul in what turned out to be his final ODI. While the exact reasons behind Irfan’s exile from the Indian team are only known to the selectors and team management, then-skipper MS Dhoni has also been blamed for the poor handling of the all-rounder’s situation.
Now, Yuvraj Singh’s father, Yograj Singh, has spoken about the subject. He claimed that not only Pathan, even Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh have spoken about how they were treated under Dhoni’s captaincy.
“It is not only about Irfan Pathan. You see Gautam Gambhir speaking about it. Virender Sehwag openly said it as well. Harbhajan Singh spoke about how he was put out of the team like a fly. You should arrange a jury on why he did what he did. MS Dhoni doesn’t want to answer. One who doesn’t want to answer has a guilty conscience,” Yograj said while speaking to InsideSport.
The former all-rounder went on to target Dhoni, Kapil Dev, and Bishan Singh Bedi. He said they did not treat players well. Yograj has in the past criticised Dhoni and Kapil. He had even revealed that he once pointed a gun at Kapil’s head over his ouster from the team.
