‘Doglepan ki hadd par kar rahe’ – Irfan Pathan tears apart Australia media and former cricketers over Virat Kohli row

Former Indian star player Irfan Pathan didn’t hold back his thoughts while chatting on Star Sports about the criticism faced by Virat Kohli. The 40-year-old took apart the Australian media and a few unnamed former players in a no-holds-barred attack. The latest thaw came after Kohli’s spat with Sam Konstas on day one of the game. 

“Sabse pehle toh yaha ke jo newspaper hai aur media hai yahan pe ek ex cricketer jo Australians hai who doglepane ki hadd paar kar rahe. Uska reason yeh hai aap ek baar Raja bana rahe ho bande ko aur usi ke baad aggression dikhata hai, hum main kisi ne us cheez ko support kia nahi. (Firstly, the media, newspapers, and a few former players here in Australia have double standards. You first call him a king and then he shows aggression; we didn’t support it either,)" he said.

🗣 @IrfanPathan Pathan doesn’t hold back, calls out the #Australian media on the Kohli-Konstas incident 🫣#AUSvINDOnStar 👉 4th Test, Day 2 LIVE NOW! | #ToughestRivalry#BorderGavaskarTrophypic.twitter.com/S26P7Oq3b0

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 27, 2024

The former India star also added, “Maine yeh baat boli hai, jo referee hai wo apna kaam karega, jo law bani hai wo follow karna hai wo kia. Lekin uske baad aap usko joker bula rahe ho, raja ke baad joke matlab aap usko sell karna chahte ho aur cricket ko famous karna hai lekin kis cheez pe. (All I am saying is the referee has followed the law and taken action. Despite this, you call him a joker; call someone a joker after calling him king? For what to sell cricket and make it more famous? On what basis?)"

Irfan Pathan sees red over Australian media antics towards Kohli

Ever since the spat between Konstas and Kohli, the Aussie media have gone into an overdrive. This isn’t the first time Kohli has been targeted ahead of the MCG Test match. The 36-year-old’s chat with a journalist was blown out of proportion, with one media person calling the player a 'Bully.” 

Irfan Pathan also added, “Aap Virat Kohli ka kandha use kar rahe ho aur uske upar chadne ki koshish kar rahe ho, unki jo market value hai uska aap chit b meri patt bhi meri kar rahe ho yeh bilkul unacceptable hai. (You are using Virat Kohli and training gun on his shoulders due to the market value he carries; you cannot have it both ways and it is unacceptable.)"

Sunil Gavaskar, who was with Irfan Pathan, was hearing patiently as the 40-year-old said, “We will not accept this, especially Indian cricket, aur yeh bahut saalon se hota jaa raha hai. Aur aagey b hoga agar humne us baat ko kandan nahi kia toh. (It has been happening for a lot of years and will continue to happen in the future if we don’t call it out.)"

Former India star Irfan Pathan then recounted an incident from 2004 when he was fined for giving Damien Martyn a send-off. “Mere samne Damien Martyn, mujhe pehli baar fine kiya gaya tha jab, maine Martyn ki wicket nikali thi, maine sirf clap kia tha gali dene ki shuruwat Damien Martyn ne ki thi lekin unhone khamoshi rakh li aur main samne tali dikhate aaye aur main fass gaya aur mujhe fine kia gaya aur Damien Martyn ko jaane diya gaya aur who yahin Australia main hua tha. Toh yeh inka jo inka kjrdar hai pehle se kirdar hai hum log law follow kare bjo bahar se aate hai par aap follow nahi karenge” 

Even Sunil Gavaskar seemed to agree with the view and accused Australia of playing with separate rules. The matter has already snowballed into a huge debate with the crowd getting into action. Indian fans are firmly behind Kohli, while the Australian fans booed the 36-year-old when he was fielding and batting on Friday.