Irfan Pathan’s resurfaced video has wreaked havoc. The former all-rounder had indirectly accused then India captain MS Dhoni of showing bias towards players who were ‘yes men’. Pathan had stated that he wasn’t included in the squad because he wouldn’t partake in ‘hookah parties’ that Dhoni organised.
Pathan-Dhoni feud
“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,” Pathan had said.
The old video spread like wildfire. Yuvraj Singh’s father and former India cricketer Yograj Singh also criticised Dhoni and even went as far as saying that the wicketkeeper treated people like shit. Amid all the jokes being cracked online and Dhoni being villainised, Aakash Chopra has come to his defence.
Akash Chopra backs Dhoni
The former India opener stated that Dhoni didn’t have anything against Pathan or any other player. It’s that he trusted players who played with him at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) a bit more because he saw them play well under pressure and from close quarters. It’s the same with all captains and even coaches.
“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 is would be preferred more. That is not bias, not favouritism. It is just the fact that they have spent more time with them,” Akash told CREX.
Akash added that the alleged hookah parties don’t matter. A team isn’t picked for factors outside of the cricket field. If that had been the case, Dhoni wouldn’t have dropped his good friend RP Singh, and his successor Virat Kohli would have continued playing Ishant Sharma.
“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 end, he has to pick a team that can win and players who can take him to that destination. So there is a lot riding on the captain’s shoulders, and the stakes are high. I don’t think that if someone does not spend more time with the captain, they would be adversely treated or dropped,” he added.
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