Irfan Pathan – “I’ve played cricket for more than two decades and have taken more than a thousand wickets but the last two years working for Kashmiris have been my best years.”

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan arrived at the Jammu and Kashmir edition of Amar Ujala Samvad 2023. During this, he narrated an incident about which hardly anyone knows. Hardly anyone knows that Pathan’s passion for cricket is such that he had to face many difficulties while promoting cricket in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, he was neither afraid nor stopped by any difficulties. He kept moving forward and as a result of this, today many cricket stars are emerging from that place. Pathan has also been the coach of the Jammu and Kashmir team. Irfan has played an important role in making Umran Malik, and Abdul Samad where they are today.

In Amar Ujala Samvad 2023, when Pathan was asked to tell any incident or thing that he has not shared till now on any platform? On this, Irfan Pathan told a scary incident. He told that when I became a mentor for Jammu and Kashmir cricket, I had to go to different areas and find boys.

Pathan told- I had to go to Kupwara. The decision to go to Kupwara was taken a week in advance. When the time came to leave, there was an encounter a day before and our soldiers had killed some terrorists. This happened just 50 meters away from where I was staying. The soldiers told me so. Had it been anyone else, he/she might not have gone there, but I went there. Pathan said- I was seeing the views there, I was feeling the silence there. I went there and stayed the night. The next day, I again saw the boy bowling in the ground of Kupwara where I had specially gone to see him. I selected him for further rounds. Some day you will definitely see him playing National and IPL in a year or two.