Irfan Pathan exposes ugly physical altercation with a senior India player in the dressing room over batting order

Irfan Pathan opens up about a shocking dressing room incident where a senior Indian cricketer physically confronted him over batting order decisions. The former all-rounder shares rare insight into team tensions during his early career.

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Irfan Pathan exposes ugly physical altercation with a senior India player in the dressing room over batting order

Throughout his career, Irfan Pathan, one of India's most versatile cricket players, has combined swing, seam, and useful lower-order batting. Irfan, who was respected for his all-around talents, played important roles for the team in numerous games and was well-known for his left-arm pace and ability to influence games with the ball. 

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Behind the scenes, though, he recently talked about a lesser-known conflict from his playing days, implying that it may have happened during a series against Pakistan or Sri Lanka, but he did not specify which match it was.

The young left-arm pacer was asked to bat at No. 3, which is often reserved for a specialist batter, at that time. The move caused conflict with one of the team's veteran players, even if it demonstrated the team management's confidence in his hitting prowess.

In a conversation with TheLallantop, Irfan Pathan recalled the incident and stated,“I didn't say anything; I was quite young. He was someone who thought he was a better batter than me. There is no point in disrespecting someone by taking names. There is no permanent friendship or rivalry in cricket.” 

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I was quite young, so I said nothing. He believed that he was a better batter than I was. Disrespecting someone by calling them names is pointless. In a conversation with TheLallantop, Irfan Pathan recalled the incident and stated, "There is no permanent friendship or rivalry in cricket."

Irfan remembered a senior batter's words from his playing days, mentioning, "It was said, 'Yeh kyu mere se upar jaa raha hai batting karne?’”  

Irfan flatly denied that the incident featured any legendary players of the Fab Five, including Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, or VVS Laxman. He praised Ganguly, saying, “It wasn’t Dada. In fact, Dada was someone who sacrificed his own position for others."

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