Cricket | 'Saare jo musalman hai duniya ke...' - Irfan Pathan exposes Pakistan’s hypocrisy

Former India allrounder Irfan Pathan has launched a scathing attack on Pakistan, accusing them of acting like self-appointed guardians of Muslims worldwide. Speaking candidly, Pathan said it was a “misconception” that Pakistan carried the responsibility of all Muslims, urging them to focus on their own issues first — a sentiment he admitted feeling at a personal level.

"Ek toh Pakistaniyo ko na ye lagta hai ki saare jo musalman hai duniya ke unki jo zimmedaari hai unhone le rakhi hai (One thing about Pakistanis is that they feel as if they’ve taken responsibility for all the Muslims in the world)," Pathan told The Lallantop.


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"Ye unki galat fehmi hai (That’s their misconception). Jo mujhe lagta hai yaar thoda thehro, apne aap pe thoda phle dhyan do (What I feel is — hold on a bit, first focus on yourselves)."

"I’ve felt this at a personal level."

Pathan also opened up about his long-standing on-field rivalry with Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, recalling both the personal barbs and the cricketing battles that defined their encounters.

The former India allrounder, who enjoyed immense success against Pakistan in his career — taking 67 wickets and scoring 807 runs, including a century — dismissed Afridi 11 times across formats, including for a golden duck in the 2007 T20 World Cup final.

“Dismissed him 11 times. I have a different kind of fight with him [Afridi] because when I was new and young in the team, there was an interview of Afridi with Harsha Bhogle,” Pathan said. “Afridi had said, ‘I am the real Pathan, he is a fake Pathan’. Badtameez aadmi hai (He is an ill-mannered man). Mujhe laga ki aap sirf mere baare mein nahi bol rahe ho, mere waalid ke baare mein bhi baat kar rahe (I felt he wasn’t just talking about me but also about my father, which he shouldn’t have done).”

Pathan admitted the comment fueled his determination whenever he bowled to Afridi. “Toh jab jab mere haath mein ball tha, mere jahan mein yeh tha ki isko toh main out kar dunga (So whenever I had the ball in my hand, my only thought was that I would dismiss him). Maine out karke usko gyara baar bata chuka hoon ki asli Pathan kaun hai (By dismissing him 11 times, I’ve shown him who the real Pathan is). Bade bade maukon mein out kiya hai — series decider mein, World Cup final mein (I got him out on big occasions — in a series decider, in a World Cup final),” he added.

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