Irfan Pathan 'disgusted', slams Twitter user for calling him next Hafiz Saeed

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Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan recently lashed out at a Twitter user after the latter compared him with Pakistan terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The 35-year-old took to his social media handle and shared a screenshot of the Twitter user's comment on one of the news articles on him.

In the comment section of the story, a Twitter user named 'Krutika Hindu' had stated that Irfan is not hiding away from becoming the next Hafiz Saeed--the leader of the terrorist organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD).

Bashing the user, the southpaw tweeted,"This is the mentality of certain people. Where have we reached? #shame #disgusted."

This is the mentality of certain ppl. Where have we reached ? #shame #disgusted pic.twitter.com/nlLh9vTwS6 — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 2, 2020

Many Twitteratis, including actor Richa Chadha, also reacted to Irfan's tweet.

Chadha stated that the Twitter user who has abused Irfan is a bot and not a real handle. "It's fake account. Bot. Not a real person," she commented.

In reply, Irfan said, "But someone is managing that?"

It is to be noted that the abuse from the Twitter user came in reply to a Zee News story on Pathan's comments on his switch from a fast bowler to an all-rounder in his professional cricketing career.

In an interaction with a cricket programme presenter, Irfan had stated that it would be wrong to blame former Australian cricketer and former Indian coach Greg Chappell for spoiling his career.

During the interaction, Irfan had also revealed that it was not Chappell--who served as the head coach of the Indian team between 2005 to 2007- but legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar who pitched the idea of promoting him to No.3 spot to the then skipper Rahul Dravid prior to the opening ODI against Sri Lanka in 2005.

Though Irfan notched up a crucial knock of 83 runs to help India seal 152-run win over Lanka during that match, many believed that the team's management's decision to convert him into an all-rounder from the fast bowler was the reason behind his decline of the international career.

Irfan made his international debut for India during a Test match Australia at Adelaide Oval in December 2003.

During his playing career, Irfan had featured in 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is for the national side, claiming a total of 301 wickets across all formats of the game. Besides this, he also managed to notch up 2,821 runs, including with a single hundred and 11 fifties.

He is also one of the three bowlers to have taken a hat-trick for India in the longest format of the game and the first one to grab it in the first over of the match. Irfan announced retirement from all forms of cricket in January 2020.