Irfan Pathan hits back at Abdul Razzaq for 'baby bowler' comment on Jasprit Bumrah
Veteran Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan on Thursday urged fans to not pay heed to 'unnecessary over the top statements' referring to the recent remarks from former Pakistani cricketer Abdul Razzaq who called Jasprit Bumrah a 'baby bowler'. Irfan though did not take any name in his comment on Twitter but he did use '#Bumrah' in his tweet which implied that it was a response to Razzaq's statement.
"I have played against great bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram, so Bumrah is a baby bowler in front of me and I could have easily dominated and attacked him," Razzaq had said in an interview to Cricket Pakistan a few days back. Indian cricket fans went abuzz on Twitter over the remarks on Bumrah, but Irfan urged them not to pay attention to it.
Responding to Razzaq, Irfan tweeted, "Irfan jese bowlers hamari gali gali mein paae jate hay par jab jab ye galli bowler inke samne khela har baar inki gilliyan nikal ke rakh di. Request to all fans not to pay any heat to those unnecessary over the top statements. Just read and :)"
Through his tweet, Irfan also took a dig at former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad who had reportedly referred to him as a 'gully' bowler back in 2004.
''Your Irfan Pathans are in every gully and mohalla of Pakistan. We don't even bother to look at them," then Pakistan coach Miandad had said during India's tour of Pakistan in 2004. "I am not saying he [Pathan] is bad. All I am saying is that he is all right for India. But Pathan can't scare us. He simply does not have the pace. What Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami can do against Indian batsmen, Pathan cannot do against our batsmen."
Irfan played only the last three ODIs in that series and bagged eight wickets to help India win the contest. He followed it up with an impressive show in the Test series as well where he picked 12 wickets. However, his stellar hat-trick against Pakistan in 2006 at home will always be one of the most memorable moments of this rivalry contest for ardent cricket followers.
