Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan has broken silence after an old video of him taking a dig at the legendary MS Dhoni recently took the internet by storm.

In the little clip, Pathan can be seen commenting on the circumstances leading to his exclusion from the Indian cricket team.

Pathan’s last appearance for India was in 2012, despite claiming a five-wicket haul in what turned out to be his final ODI. While the exact reasons behind his snub are only known to the selectors and team management, then-skipper Dhoni also reportedly has a role to play in the poor handling of the all-rounder.

Recently, a footage from his old interview—recorded five years ago—emerged on social media, with many netizens linking it to Dhoni.

Instead of clarifying his old remarks, Irfan Pathan has now suggested that they had been ‘twisted’ out of context, as part of either ‘fan wars’ or ‘PR lobbies’.

"Half-decade-old video surfacing NOW with a twisted context to the statement. Fan war? PR lobby?" he wrote on X.

In this old interview with Sports Tak, Pathan spoke about how, once in 2008, after being dropped from the Indian team, he had confronted Dhoni about his omission.

"Yes, I asked him. During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi bhai's statement came out in the media that Irfan wasn't bowling well. I thought I had bowled well throughout the series, so I went and asked Mahi bhai about it. Sometimes, statements get twisted in the media, so I wanted to clarify. Mahi bhai said, 'No Irfan, there is nothing like that. Everything's going as per plan.' When you get a reply like that, you believe it and do what you can. If you keep asking for explanations again and again after that, you hurt your self-respect," Pathan can be heard saying in the video.

He further added: "I don't have a habit of setting up hookah in someone's room or talking unnecessarily. Everyone knows. Sometimes, it's better not to speak. A cricketer's job is to perform on the field, and that's what I focused on."

When a fan tried to pull his leg by bringing up the hookah comment, Irfan Pathan took it sportingly.

A fan wrote, "Pathan bhai woh hookey ka kya hua???"

To which, the former all-rounder replied, “Mein or @msdhoni sath Beth kar pienge;).”