![[WATCH] ‘I don’t have the habit of setting up Hookah’ - Irfan Pathan's old remark on MS Dhoni resurfaces](https://cricketmood.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/f5i9slrk_irfan-pathan-and-ms-dhoni-in-ipl-bcci_625x300_02_September_25.jpg "[WATCH] ‘I don’t have the habit of setting up Hookah’ - Irfan Pathan's old remark on MS Dhoni resurfaces 1")
An old video of former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan discussing MS Dhoni has surfaced. In the video, Pathan explained his sudden departure from the national team and recounted a conversation with Dhoni.
The left-arm bowler admitted that he once approached Dhoni after learning that the skipper was displeased with his bowling. However, Dhoni denied such reports, assuring him that they were false.
Irfan Pathan represented India in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is, hitting 2,821 runs and taking 301 wickets, including a historic Test hat-trick against Pakistan.
Despite collecting five wickets in his last ODI, he was dropped from the team for reasons known only to the administration and selectors.
“Yes, I asked him. 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,” Pathan said in an interview with SportsTak in 2020.
Ms dhoni used to select those players who set hukka for him, i denied and i got dropped – Irfan Pathan pic.twitter.com/tlbFPvYZNU
— Popa 🇮🇳 (@rafalekohli) September 1, 2025
Pathan further mentioned that he was not the kind of player who would try to please someone through off-field gestures, adding that he never believed in indulging in activities such as setting up hookah in a teammate’s room to earn favour.
“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 added.
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