"He has to pick a team that can win" - Aakash Chopra's huge statement on MS Dhoni after Irfan Pathan's old claim goes viral

Aakash Chopra opined on favoritism in team selection after former all-rounder Irfan Pathan's old statement went viral. Chopra stated that a successful captain would not be influenced completely by such factors when it came to picking players.

In an interview in 2020, Irfan Pathan had taken an indirect dig at MS Dhoni, addressing his sudden exit from the national team. During the 2008 Australia series, the media had reported that Dhoni was not happy with Irfan's bowling.

"Yes, I asked him. During the 2008 Australia series, Mahi's statement came out in the media that Irfan wasn't bowling well. So I thought I had bowled well throughout the series, so I went and asked Mahi about this. Sometimes, the statements are twisted in the media, so I also wanted to clarify. Mahi said, 'no Irfan, there is nothing like this, everything's going as per plans.' When you get a reply like this, then you believe that okay, you do what you can. Also if you keep asking for explanations again and again after that, you hurt your self-respect," he had said. (via OneCricket).

Commenting on the same, Aakash Chopra reckoned that a captain's job is to make a team that can win him the game. He stated that success and captaincy itself depended on results. Chopra believed that having certain preferences is not bias or favoritism.

"You want to pick your best team. But if you have seen someone more in front of you and playing under pressure, you move towards them, and that is normal. You will see that players from where the coach or captain are would be preferred more. That is not bias, not favoritism. It is just the fact that they have spent more time with them," he said. (via CREX)

"Beyond that, what happens in one room, how many people sit, how many don't, I don't think a successful captain worth his salt is going to get influenced by that factor. At the end he has to pick a team that can win and players who can take him to that destination. So there is a lot riding on the captain's shoulders and the stakes are high. I don't think that if someone does not spend more time with the captain, they would be adversely treated or dropped," he added.

Notably, Irfan Pathan played his last international match under MS Dhoni's captaincy. He had also picked up five wickets in what turned out to be his last ODI.

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Irfan Pathan's international career

Irfan Pathan made his international debut in 2003. It was a Test match against Australia at Adelaide. He made his ODI debut against the same opponent in 2004. His T20I debut came in 2006 against South Africa.

Irfan, who had immense talent and potential, put up several memorable performances for India. He picked up a hat-trick in Test cricket. The left-arm pacer was also part of their 2007 T20 World Cup-winning team.

However, he played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs, and 24 T20Is. He did not feature in as many international matches as he would have liked to. His last game for India came in 2012 against South Africa in the T20 World Cup. He returned figures of 5/61 from 10 overs in his final ODI against Sri Lanka in the same year.

Irfan Pathan ended with 100 Test, 173 ODI, and 28 T20I wickets.