Irfan Pathan questions 'fan war, PR lobby' as old hookah jibe against MS Dhoni goes viral

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has hinted that ‘Fan war’ and ‘PR lobby’ could be behind the resurfacing of the video where he accused MS Dhoni of picking players who set up a hookah (tobacco pipe) for him in the national camp. Pathan lost his place in Team India in 20212 across formats under Dhoni’s captaincy. And while what led to his omission was never discussed, Pathan, in an interview in 2020, accused Dhoni of partiality.

While speaking to SportsTak, Pathan hinted that those who used to set up hookah for Dhoni got more chances than him. “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,” Irfan said.

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The video is now viral again on social media after five years, as fans started trolling Pathan for making unfair accusations against Dhoni, who led India to three ICC title wins, including the ODI and T20 World Cups.

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On Wednesday, Pathan hit back at those who played a role in making the video go viral. He hinted that it was probably the job of some fan group or PR organisations.

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“Half decade old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the Statement. Fan war? PR lobby?” Pathan asked on X.

Half decade old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the Statement. Fan war? PR lobby?

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 3, 2025

It’s quite possible that Pathan was talking about Rohit Sharma’s fan groups, as recently in an interview with Lallantop, the former India all-rounder had said that the former Test captain did not deserve a place in five-day matches in Australia due to his poor form.

“Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true,” Pathan said.

While Pathan is justified in being furious about the video going viral again, it’s impossible to pin down who resurfaced it and why.