"The XI is decided by captain..."- Irfan Pathan narrates how MS Dhoni's planning with Gary Kirsten led to his exclusion from team

Irfan Pathan elaborated on the story of his ouster from Indian team during MS Dhoni’s captaincy.

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has revealed the story of his ouster from Indian Cricket Team in 2009 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. He recalled a conversation with former India head coach Gary Kirsten, saying that it was the then skipper Dhoni, who was behind his snub from the team.

Pathan was just 19 years old when he made his test debut in Australia in 2003. In a few years, he became a regular member of the team across all three formats. He was also part of the Indian team that won the ICC T20 World Cup 2007.

However, he lost his place in the national side in 2009 as his career took an abrupt turn. He was sidelined for two years before making a comeback in 2011. However, he could only play a few more international games and couldn’t cement his spot in the team due to a high competition.

The left-arm pacer played his last international game in 2012 and eventually announced his retirement in 2020. While Irfan played only 29 tests and 24 T20Is in his career, he was more effective in his 120 ODI appearances.

Irfan Pathan reveals story behind his snub under MS Dhoni’s captaincy

The 40-year-old recently appeared on The Lallantop show, where he narrated the story of his ouster from the national team under Dhoni’s captaincy. Pathan recalled that he and his brother Yusuf Pathan helped the team to win a crucial ODI game against Sri Lanka in 2009.

However, he was later dropped in the next ODI series in New Zealand. When he questioned coach Gary Kirsten about his snub, the latter’s statements revealed that Dhoni dropped him from the playing XI.

“In New Zealand, I was benched for the first match, the second match, and the third match as well. The fourth match was a draw because of rain. I wasn’t in the final match either. Then I asked Gary sir why I had been dropped. If there was something I needed to improve, he could tell me, but I wanted to know the reason I was left out,” he said.

“Kirsten gave me two reasons. He said, ‘There are things that are not in my hand.’ Those were Gary’s exact words. I asked whose hands it was in, but he didn’t tell me. I already knew whose hands it was in. The playing XI is decided by the captain’s choice,” he further said.

“The decision rests with the captain, coach, and management. Dhoni was the captain at that time. I won’t get into whether that decision was right or wrong, because every captain has the right to run the team in his own way,” Pathan added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator recalled that Kirsten told him the team needed a batting all-rounder in the playing XI. Hence, they went ahead with his brother instead of him in the playing XI.

“The second answer was that they were looking for a batting all-rounder at No. 7. Fair enough — my brother was a batting all-rounder, while I was a bowling all-rounder. The two were different from each other, but there was only room for one in the team,” he recalled.

Meanwhile, Pathan was recently seen in World Championship of Legends 2025 – a franchise T20 league of former international cricketers. The left-arm pacer played for India Champions, which was led by Yuvraj Singh. They reached the semi-finals of the tournament, however, they pulled out of the game by refusing to play against Pakistan Champions.

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