Irfan Pathan seem to have taken a silent dig at Dhoni

Former India all-rounder, Irfan Pathan’s tweet following the events of the thrilling game between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab has caused an uproar on the social media platform. The Royals made a stunning come back to beat Kings XI Punjab in one of the best T20 games the world has ever witnessed and the highest run chase in IPL history. It was a great cricket match to say the least.

Royals chased Kings XI Punjab finished mammoth total of 223 for 2 in which Mayank Agarwal starred with the bat, scoring 106 while KL Rahul scored a brilliant fifty in a remarkable partnership. The big score did not caused nerves for Royals as they came out all guns blazing. Steve Smith and Sanju Samson made their presence felt with incredible batting innings with the Royals eventually won the match with three balls remaining. Rahul Tewatia was the cult hero otherwise Royal wouldn’t have pulled out the feet. Smith, Samson and Rahul Tewatia, who hit five sixes in the 18th over, hit fifties to lead the charge for the Royals.

Soon after the game ended, Irfan Pathan took to Twitter to say that the game between Royals and Kings XI Punjab was similar to the one that took place between the Royals and Chennai Super Kings last week. On that occasion, Royals had won the game after setting up a total of 216. CSK showed little intent with the bat and finished their innings on 216.

“Csk vs RR and Kings11 vs RR games were very similar…” wrote Irfan Pathan on the Social Media platform, as he probably took a dig at CSK‘s lack of intent.

Irfan Pathan knows clearly what intention he carried behind his tweet that added a little bit of spicy with an incomplete phrase. However, the fans understood that the tweet was an attempted dig at MS Dhoni for his lack of intent. CSK needed 103 runs in 38 balls when MS Dhoni came out to bat but the CSK skipper did not show any urgency. He did hit three consecutive sixes in the final over but the game was already lost by that time.

To that tweet though, fans showered with their reaction tweets. Most of them urging Pathan to reveal his intentions behind the tweet. One tweeted ‘Sarcasm at its best’ other replied that Irfan never leaves any chance to troll MS Dhoni. Another one said Pathan to be straightforward in telling everyone that he’s taking a dig at Dhoni.

There was another set of fans who defended Dhoni’s ability and rather points out at CSK for not producing the mentality to churn out the result. ‘It’s all about the intent..And after seen those sixes from Dhoni, one shouldn’t doubt his ability. Lack of intent cost the game for CSK!’ summarized a fan on the reply box. Other put a hashtag on Dhoni’s name saying he was the difference.

Soon the Tweet was covered with negative replies from possible haters or simply those who don’t like the way Dhoni played. ‘Tewatia Rocked Dhoni chocked’, ‘Par Mahi bhai ko wo match jeetne ka man nahi tha [But Dhoni didn’t bothered to win the game]’, ‘CSK couldn’t win because Dhoni started firing a bit late’ was certain tweets that clearly showed agreement with Pathan’s post and disagreement with Dhoni’s supporters.

The trend these days is to take a dig at MS Dhoni and co. just for the attention of the fans. The former Indian cricket captain is a soft target now. He has been facing a lot of criticism in recent times. There has been a lot of criticism thrown his way by a lot of Pundits and ex-cricketers to stir the rift.

However, MSD would prefer to respond those critics with the bat and his team’s form. Let’s wait and watch what happens in the days to come. Dhoni has retired from international cricket and the IPL could very well be his place of reckoning now. Whether he is able to live up to the fans and supporters’ expectations, remains to be seen.

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