'Mein or MS Dhoni...' - Irfan Pathan breaks his silence amid MS Dhoni's hukka saga

Irfan Pathan is showing no signs of holding back. After his controversial 'hookah' comment in one of his social media posts, the former all-rounder tagged MS Dhoni directly and made another controversial remark. 

Irfan shared a post on September 3, 2025, from his official social media account to wish Mohammed Shami on his birthday. It was a normal birthday post until a net user asked Irfan, "Pathan bhai woh hookey ka kya hua??? ((Irfan) Pathan, bro, what happened to that hookah?)" In reply, tagging MS Dhoni, the former India international typed, "Mein or MS Dhoni sath Beth kar pienge (I and Dhoni will enjoy it together)." 

After the comment from Pathan, the controversy took a new turn. Though, some might wonder, what is the link between Irfan Pathan, MS Dhoni, and hookah? Here are the full background details of the controversial chapter shared by Pathan himself:

Read More: Mark Butcher: England do not have an absorption button in ODIs

During an interview with a new channel, Irfan discussed his sudden snub from Team India despite bowling significantly well in the previous game. The exclusion of the former pace bowling all-rounder came as a shocker to cricket fans in those days, as he picked up a five-wicket haul in his last ODI, and right after that, Pathan was out of contention. During the conversation he wanted to say that there was a huge communication gap about his exclusion. He claimed that the board or team management did not show any proper reason behind the decision. To date, it was publicly unknown why the team management decided to drop Irfan Pathan. After multiple promising performances, his international career ended abruptly in 2012. Pathan further informed that he went to MS Dhoni, then the captain of team India, and tried to find out the reason why he was not a part of the team. But Dhoni's answer was something different from the scenario. 

What did Pathan said? 

"Yes, I asked him. During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi said, 'No, Irfan, there is nothing like this; everything's going as per plan,'" Pathan said. 

After that, he made the controversial comment where Irfan talked about hookah, which is considered a subtle dig at Dhoni. Pathan said, "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."