Vetaran Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan has created quite a stir with his recent comments on Indian players. After his staggering "baap-beta" revelation in his duel with Virat Kohli in the 2015 ODI World Cup, Sohail has now taken a jibe at Umran Malik, who has become a sensation in India with his fiery pace and has been strongly touted to smash Shoaib Akhtar's bowling speed record. Sohail however made a bizarre comment on the backing Umran has received pertaining to Akhtar's record but India legend Irfan Pathan gave a mouth-shutting reply to the Pakistan pacer.
Speaking on The Nadir Ali podcast, Sohail did praise Umran, having admitted to have watched him perform in one or two matches, but claimed that bowlers like him, who bowl in excess of 150-155 kph, are in abundance in Pakistan's domestic circuit.
Taking a screengrab of Hindustan Times' article, a Twitterati said, "Pakistani cricketer says Umran Malik jaise humare domestic cricket mein bhare pade hain. Javed Miandad said the same about Irfan Pathan. Phir Irfan ne Pakistan mein ja kar Pakistan ki team ka band bajaya tha. Yaar tum log thoda kam bola karo (Pakistan cricketer says there are plenty of bowlers like Umran Malik in our domestic circuit. Javed Miandad had said the same about Irfan Pathan. He then went to Pakistan and proved his worth. Pakistanis should speak less)."
“Major sahab ese statements de kar inhe attention chahiye. Ignore maariye (Major, they want to get attention by making these statements. Please ignore),” Irfan reacted to the post.
{{/usCountry}}“Major sahab ese statements de kar inhe attention chahiye. Ignore maariye (Major, they want to get attention by making these statements. Please ignore),” Irfan reacted to the post.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the Miandad remark, there was a lot of talk about Irfan ahead of the 2004 India-Pakistan series, especially after his terrific show in his debut series against Australia in 2003/04. Miandad, who was then the coach of Pakistan, played down the threat Irfan possessed by saying "bowlers like Irfan Pathan were found in every street of Pakistan". Although Irfan did not respond to the quote, he let his performance do the talking.
The then 19-year-old left-arm pacer picked 12 wickets in three Tests at 28.50 as India won the series 2-1.