Former Team India bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan has revealed that it was MS Dhoni’s call to drop him from the ODI side in 2009. Irfan said that he had even asked then-coach Gary Kirsten about the reason behind his exclusion, but the coach did not give a clear answer. According to Kirsten, many things were not in his control. After 2009, Irfan hardly played international cricket. He returned briefly in late 2011, but his last international appearance came in 2012.
In an interview with Lallantop, Irfan disclosed the secret he had kept to himself for years. He said that Dhoni decided to keep him out of the playing XI. Sharing the incident, Irfan said:
“This was in 2009, during our New Zealand tour. Just before that, my brother Yusuf and I had won a crucial match for India in Sri Lanka. It was the kind of situation where if any other player had pulled off that win, he would not have been dropped for an entire year. Instead, his place in the team would have been guaranteed as a match-winner.”
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Irfan further explained:
“We needed 60 runs off 28 or 29 balls with 7 wickets already down. Normally, the game was considered over, especially since we were in Sri Lanka, playing on their soil, against Lasith Malinga and quality spinners. But Yusuf and I won that game. I scored 33 off 16 balls and also took wickets. After that, we went to New Zealand. I sat out the first game, then the second, third, and fourth as well—even though India had already won the series. When the fifth match came, I was still not in the XI. I wondered why. So I asked Gary Kirsten to at least tell me the reason for my exclusion. If there was something I needed to improve, I wanted to know so I could work on it.”
Irfan then added:
“Gary told me, ‘Irfan, some things are not in my hands.’ These were his exact words. So I asked, ‘Then whose hands are they in?’ He replied, ‘I cannot tell you that.’ I said, ‘Alright, no problem.’ Later, when I was asked about it, I explained: The playing XI is decided based on the captain’s call. The captain, coach, and management think about the team combination. At that time, MS Dhoni was the captain. Whether he was right or wrong, I won’t get into that. Every captain has the right to run the team as he wants.”