In another incident of savage trolling former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan, who took 383 wickets and scored 3,982 runs in different formats of the game, had a rude shock when he was trolled by a Twitterati called him ‘the next Hafiz Saeed’.

Hafiz Saeed is a Pakistani militant, who is the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawah and one of the founders of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Saeed is also one of the most wanted men in the list of Indian agencies such as the National Investigation Agency.

Recently, 35-year-old Pathan has been talking about religious harmony in the country and despite being criticised on social media frequently, he has stuck to his views.

However, the latest round of trolling took place on July 2 over an issue that had nothing to do with the issues of communal harmony. Pathan was targeted on Twitter after his comments appeared in a news item the headline of which read, “It’s unfair to blame Greg Chappell for spoiling my career: Irfan Pathan”.

The report attracted a comment  “Not hiding his ambitions to become the next Hafiz Saeed”.

Enraged, Irfan shot back: “This is the mentality of certain people. Where have we reached? #shame #disgusted.”

In the news report that apparently triggered the troll, Irfan said that Greg Chappell had not made him bat at number three position, something that is held to be instrumental in ruining his career. “I had said this after I had announced my retirement as well. Those who talk about Greg Chappell spoiling my career, by sending me as an all-rounder at No. 3 and all these things. Actually, it was Sachin paaji’s idea. He advised Rahul Dravid to send me at No. 3. He said ‘he (Irfan) has the power to hit sixes, can take on the new ball and can play the fast bowlers well too,” Pathan was quoted saying in the report.

Bollywood actor Richa Chadha responded to the cricketer’s comment and wrote: “It’s fake account. Bot. Not a real person.” Reacting to the actor’s comment Pathan responded: “But someone is managing that?”

Irfan Pathan made his international debut against Australia in the test at Adelaide in 2001. He made his ODI debut in the follow-up tri-series against Australia and Zimbabwe and became a regular team member.

Irfan has played 29 test matches, taking 100 wickets with an economy of 3.29. He also scored 1105 runs including a century. In ODIs, he has taken 173 wickets with an economy of 5.27 in 120 matches and has scored 1544 runs. He had quite a successful T20I career as he was part of the 2007 T20 World Cup winning team and was also the man of the match in the final for taking three wickets.

In his T20I career comprising 24 matches, his all-rounder abilities have made him take 28 wickets with an economy of 8.03 and score 172 runs. In the IPL, he played for Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals scoring 1139 runs in 103 matches in which he took 103 wickets with an economy of 7.78.