Irfan Pathan has been in the news ever since he made the controversial "Hookah" remark about legendary former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
In an interview, Pathan claimed that Dhoni allegedly smoked 'Hookah' during his playing and favoured those players who joined him for the sessions, outside the pitch.
Add The Sporting News as a preferred news source
The statement immediately went viral once the interview came out and Pathan, since then, has had to face trolling on social media for defaming an Indian cricket icon like Dhoni.
Now, another statement from Pathan from the same interview has gone viral, where the former Indian pacer revealed the names of the players who were his first friends in the Indian team.
READ: 'MS Dhoni hurled abuses during IPL’ – Former CSK bowler reveals
Irfan Pathan reveals how close he was to MS Dhoni
Speaking about his friendships in the Indian team, Pathan said: "Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ye teen jo khiladi hote they, na to ye mere bina khana khate they, na to mai inke bina khana khata tha. Itni hamari zabarzast yaari thi jab hum saath mai khelte they (These three players never ate without me, and I never ate without them. That's how strong our friendship was when we played together)."
MORE: Did Virat Kohli get special BCCI treatment?
Pathan broke into the Indian cricket scene as a sensation as he took a hat-trick in his maiden Test series against Pakistan and became an overnight star. His international career, however, stumbled into multiple roadblocks and it finally ended in 2012.
Pathan was a part of the famour Indian squad that lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa beating Pakistan in the final in 2007, under the leadership of MS Dhoni.