NEW DELHI: It was nothing short of a night to forget for Irfan Pathan in the 2010 edition of the IPL. Representing Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab), Irfan found himself in the spotlight in match number 54 of the tournament against the Chennai Super Kings in Dharamsala. Punjab, batting first, produced a mammoth total of 192/3, riding on Shaun Marsh’s unbeaten 88 and a quick-fire 44 not out from Irfan himself. With that total on the board, Punjab had every reason to believe they were in the driver’s seat.However, what followed turned out to be one of the most memorable finishes in IPL history, with Irfan at the receiving end. CSK’s chase went down to the wire, and as fate would have it, the equation came down to 16 runs required off the last over. The ball was in Irfan’s hands, and standing at the other end was none other than MS Dhoni.Dhoni had other plans in mind. He began the over by dispatching Irfan for a boundary, followed it up with a couple of runs, and then unleashed his brute power to hammer back-to-back sixes. In just a few deliveries, the game had slipped away from Punjab. CSK sealed the contest by six wickets with two balls to spare, and more importantly, secured their place in the semifinals.Dhoni finished unbeaten on 54 off just 29 deliveries, an innings laced with five fours and two sixes, and was rightly adjudged Player of the Match. For the CSK skipper, it was more than just another win.“It’s a tough game, you can’t always perform, but if you perform in big games, you get that tag of being the pressure player. But the fact is, Raina and Badri set the chase up. It was an emotional moment. Your franchise pays so much money for you, you should at least make the semi-finals,” Dhoni reflected after the match.Watch the video hereFast forward to today, Irfan once again finds himself in headlines, but for an entirely different reason. An old interview clip linked to Dhoni has resurfaced, where Irfan hinted that Dhoni used to smoke hookah and allegedly favoured players who joined him. The remarks have reignited debates on social media, triggering trolling and fresh discussions around Irfan’s abrupt exit from international cricket. Even when he tries to move past it, fans continue to remind him of the controversy.
