Former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary waded into the ‘hookah’ row involving ex-captain MS Dhoni and claimed that there were certain players who buttered the World Cup winning skipper. A five-year-old video of Irfan Pathan alleging that the former Indian captain made selections based on who was a part of his ‘hookah gang’ went viral again recently. Tiwarly claimed that there were some players who were indeed a part of the gang in order to be included in the team.
Tiwary claims stars were part of Dhoni’s hookah gang
In an exclusive interview with InsideSport, Tiwary claimed that he had seen from close quarters where some players were a part of Dhoni’s hookah sessions. The West Bengal sports minister said that there were cricketers who were attempting to sugarcoat MSD in order for a space in the Indian team when the former was the captain.
“We’ve seen from close quarters as well. There were sessions where hookah was taken and there were some players who were the close ones. There were some players, at that time, who were very smart to ensure some buttering was done to just get a little bit of help from the captain,” Manoj Tiwary claimed.
Manoj Tiwary further claimed that while it wasn’t compulsary for every Team India member to be present at the session, some of them did go there.
“It wasn’t compulsary for anyone to be there. Only the players who knew that the room is open for hookah went there. Players were who were in close quarters, to know who were in close quarters with the captain at that point of time,” Tiwary added.
What Pathan had said about MSD
“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.
