Ex-India cricketer hits back at Irfan Pathan’s ‘hookah’ comment on MS Dhoni – ‘What happens in one room…’ | Cricket News – The Times of India

Bengaluru: Chennai Super Kings’ MS Dhoni throughout the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has taken a jibe at Irfan Pathan’s favoritism allegations in opposition to MS Dhoni, beneath whose captaincy he performed his final worldwide match.“I asked him. During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi bhai’s statement came out in the media that Irfan was not bowling well. I thought I had bowled well throughout the series, so I went and asked Mahi bhai. Sometimes statements are twisted in the media, so I also wanted to clarify. Mahi bhai said, ‘No, Irfan, there is nothing like this, everything’s going as per plan,'” Pathan had mentioned in an previous interview going viral on social media.Pathan had additionally alleged that those that used to make hookah for MS Dhoni, they used to get picked.Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra has known as these fees baseless.“You want to pick your best team. But if you have seen someone more in front of you and playing under pressure, you move towards them, and that is normal. You will see that players from where the coach or captain are would be preferred more. That is not bias, not favoritism. It is just the fact that they have spent more time with them,” mentioned Chopra in a YouTube video posted by Crex.

“Beyond that, what happens in one room, how many people sit, how many don’t, I don’t think a successful captain worth his salt is going to get influenced by that factor.“At the top, he has to select a workforce that may win and gamers who can take him to that vacation spot. So there’s a lot using on the captain’s shoulders and the stakes are excessive. I don’t suppose that if somebody doesn’t spend extra time with the captain, they might be adversely handled or dropped,” he added.