Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has voiced his support for ex-India cricketer Irfan Pathan when he opened up on his heated exchange with former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi. The all-rounder from Baroda divulged that Afridi often tried to provoke him with sharp remarks and personal comments while highlighting some of the intense moments they shared both on and off the field.
Coming in Irfan’s support is Afridi’s teammate in the Pakistan cricket team, Kaneria, who said Afridi has always resorted to “personal attacks” and that “class and decency are not his strengths”.
“Irfan bhai, you’re absolutely right. He always resorts to personal attacks, be it on someone’s family or their religion. Class and decency clearly aren’t his strengths,” Kaneria posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Afridi vs Irfan controversy
Earlier, Pathan narrated an incident from the 2006 Pakistan tour, when both the Indian and Pakistani teams were flying together from Karachi to Lahore. “During the 2006 tour, we were flying from Karachi to Lahore. Both teams were travelling together. Afridi came and put his hand on my head and messed up my hair. He asked me, ‘How are you kid?’” Pathan recalled during the interview with Lallantop.
“I thought since when did you become my father. He behaved like a child. I was neither talking to him nor saying anything. After this Afridi said some bad things to me. His seat was near mine.”
Irfan explained how he responded, which silenced Afridi for the rest of the flight.
“Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq was sitting with me then. I asked him what kind of meat is available here. He told me meat of different animals are available. After this I asked whether dog meat is available. Razzaq was surprised to hear me and said, ‘Hey Irfan why are you saying this?”
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To this, Pathan replied: “‘He (Afridi) has eaten dog meat, he has been barking for so long’. “After this Afridi could not say anything. If he said anything I would have said look he is barking more,” recalled Pathan with a chuckle.
