Dhoni Would Have Pushed Himself Had the T20 World Cup Not Been Postponed, Believes Irfan Pathan
Image : Collected
|| CF Correspondent ||
Former India speedster Irfan Pathan has shared a major part of his cricketing journey with the recently retired MS Dhoni which also included the 2007 T20 World Cup where the all-rounder made all the difference.
In the recent interview with Cricketnext, Irfan Pathan has recalled his journey - on and off the field - with the former captain while trying to explain the reasons for his sudden announcement of his retirement.
He said, “Obviously, we all were talking about what's going to happen with MS Dhoni going ahead because he has been an absolute legend of the game and he has achieved so much.”
However, there was not much cricket this year due to COVID-19 which brought the entire world into a standstill. The T20 World Cup was also postponed. If the T20 World Cup would have happened in Australia, MS Dhoni might push himself and keeping himself fit to play in that level as well.
But now the World Cup isn't taking place this year, MS Dhoni has announced his retirement.
He added, “My first memory of Dhoni obviously was playing in Bangladesh, when he got run out on zero. But even before that, I played a practice game against him when he just came fresh from India A tour. We were playing in Bangalore and I bowled a bouncer to him and he smashed that bouncer even though I had a deep square leg. It went only for one run but I realised that this guy has power, that's my first memory of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.”
However, he also revealed his best moment with him was winning the T20 World Cup together as well. He said that on and off the field, they had several great memories.
He concluded, “One unforgettable thing he has said... there have been quite a few things. One thing he always tells the bowlers especially who is bowling at the death, even if you go for 15 runs I'm okay with that because the situation demands at the moment, which makes the bowler relax.”
