‘Shahid Afridi has eaten dog meat…’ – How a young Irfan Pathan silenced ex-Pakistan captain in 2006, India star recalls

Besides his cricketing skills, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is known for his controversial remarks too. From attacking the Indian players during his playing career to post retirement, Afridi made headlines for all the wrong reasons even now. Recently, former India allrounder Irfan Pathan recalled a heated conversation with Afridi mid flight.

The incident took place back during India’s tour of Pakistan in 2006, probably after the third Test in Karachi. As both the Indian and Pakistan teams were travelling from Karachi to Lahore, Afridi decided to play with a young Pathan, who had played roughly 20 Tests by then in three years.

Afridi, who was a senior member in the side by then, started by messing up Pathan’s hair which irked the Indian. “He asked me, ‘How are you, kid?’,” Pathan recalled in an interview with Lallantop. “I thought, since when did he 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,” narrated the former Indian cricketer.

While Pathan said nothing to Afridi, he quietly went up to another Pakistan all-rounder in the same flight, Abdul Razzaq, and asked what kinds of meat are available in their country. Razzaq replied courteously. But Pathan being Pathan, the Indian silenced Afridi in his own way.

“So I asked whether dog meat is available. Hearing me, a surprised Razzaq questioned, ‘Hey Irfan, why are you asking this?’ I replied that he (Afridi) has eaten dog meat, he has been barking for so long. After this, Afridi could not say anything. If he had said anything, I would have said, ‘Look, he is barking more.’,” elaborated the 40-year-old. Since that incident, Afridi never said anything to Pathan.

How Irfan Pathan became a worldwide name?

Before the Test against Pakistan in 2006 in Karachi, Pathan had played 20 Tests for India since his debut in Australia in 2003. Although Pakistan won the match by 341 runs, Pathan achieved a feat what no other cricketer has been able to do till date – taking a hattrick in the first over of a Test. He was the second Indian to take a Test hattrick after Chetan Sharma.

Asked to open the bowling for India in the first innings, Pathan had Salman Butt caught by Rahul Dravid at the first slip on fourth ball of the game. The next ball, Pathan swung the ball in which hit the pads of Younis Khan with Pakistan two down without a score on the board. He got his hattrick on the final ball of the over which came in after pitching and crashed onto the stumps, leaving Mohammad Yousuf clueless.