When Irfan Pathan was asked why he chose India and not Pakistan despite being Muslim

Nagpur: Irfan Pathan recalled an interesting tale from his playing days with Team India while speaking at an event in Nagpur.

Answering questions on a wide range of topics, Pathan said he remembers one particular incident which motivated him to do even better in his career. The said incident, as Irfan recalled, took place in Lahore where a girl asked him why he played for India despite being a Muslim.

Faced with a potential banana skin, Pathan replied, “It is a matter of pride for me to play for India.”

Pathan said that this incident motivated him to keep striving to be better. But he also pointed out to the many other moments in his career that give him pride.

According to the 32-year-old, the most memorable out of those is getting the India cap from Sourav Ganguly for his debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in 2003.

Pathan went on to play 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is. He has scored over 1800 runs and picked up 301 wickets with a first over hat-trick against Pakistan in 2006 the pick of the lot.