Recently deceased acting extraordinaire, Irrfan Khan, was an avid cricket fan and supporter of former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
Irrfan, who once wanted to play in CK Nayudu Tournament, India’s premier domestic Under 23 tournament, came in support of Dhoni post humiliating loss to England at home.
The Indian team built an unbreachable fortress at home and were undefeated in Test series since 2004 loss to the Australian team.
Indian team reached the pinnacle in Test cricket in 2010 as Dhoni walked away with the coveted maze.
However, it all changed for India in the whites after the whitewash in England and Australia in the 2011-2012 season. Dhoni began to receive scathing remarks on his captaincy in the longest format of the game.
To rub salt to the wounds, India also lost the four-match Test series at home to England in 2012 by a margin of 2-1. After India’s loss in the Kolkata Test match, Irrfan came in support of Dhoni by tweeting, “Now they’ll find the scapegoat, and that would be dhoni.”
Now they'll find the scape goat and that would be dhoni.
— Irrfan (@irrfank) December 7, 2012
In 2017, MS Dhoni decided to give up captaincy and passed on the baton to Virat Kohli. Irrfan also congratulated Dhoni for drawing curtains to his glittering career as a captain of the Indian team.
What a captain you've been @msdhoni! Will always remember you winning world cups almost single handedly.
— Irrfan (@irrfank) January 4, 2017
“At one point of time, I used to like Sachin (Tendulkar). Kapil (Dev) was also a favorite. (MS) Dhoni has shown some character. He has won matches for India on his own. He is a great captain,” Irrfan stated, back in 2014.
Even during his treatment in Britain in 2018, Irrfan was spotted in the crowd, watching one of the games during India’s tour of England.
Irrfan Khan gathered adulations from all over the world with his performances in Life of Pi, Jurassic World, and The Namesake.