Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has taken a Pakistani fan to task for spreading fake news about Irfan Pathan on social media.

The fan posted a video on X, claiming that Pakistan skipper Babar Azam refused to give an interview to Irfan during last year’s ODI World Cup in India.

"When Irfan Pathan begs Babar Azam for an interview and he refuses," the fan wrote.

Harbhajan was not one bit pleased by the fan's choice of words and called him out. “Where is @IrfanPathan in this video ?? Bolne ki tameez to aap logo ko pehle hi nahi thi. Ab aankho se dikhna bi bandh ho gya kya ?  Waise bi agar angreji mai swal pooch liya to pange pad jayenge,” he responded.

Later, Irfan Pathan himself reacted to Harbhajan’s tweet, asking his former teammate to ignore such posts as the Pakistan fans are looking to gain reach by spreading lies.

“Inko jhoot bolke REACH chahiye. Ignore maaro Paaji @harbhajan_singh,” Pathan wrote.

Under Babar Azam’s captaincy, Pakistan endured a dismal World Cup 2023 campaign in India. The Men in Green failed to qualify for the semi-final after losing five out of their nine league-stage matches.

In the wake of the debacle, Babar stepped down as captain from all formats of the game. However, he was reinstated in the white-ball leadership role ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, where Pakistan faced a shocking group-stage exit after losing to debutants USA and arch-rivals India.