Lok Sabha elections: Yusuf Pathan says he felt the same tension before 2007 India-Pak final
yusuf pathan
During the Lok Sabha elections, Yusuf Pathan was under a different kind of pressure as he was making his political debut and was up against five-time parliamentarianand seasoned Congress politician Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Baharampur in the east Indian state of West Bengal.
“I felt the same tension before the 2007 India-Pakistan World T20 final in South Africa. That was quite helpful and I knew that I could handle it,” said the cricketer-turned Trinamool Congress politician.
It may be recalled thatin 2007, MS Dhoni’s team, in which Pathan played a key role, went on to win the inaugural World T20 title against all expectations.
On Tuesday (June 4), Pathan once again proved to be a giant killer, polling 524,516 votes to defeat the Congress party’s most vocal MP Chowdhury by 85,022 votes.
“Nervousness on a big day is not new,” Pathan toldThe Indian Express newspaper.
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“But as time goes by, things start getting normal. It is same like when I walk out to bat on debut… the more you stay at the crease, the more things get normal. As counting went along, nervousness went down and I was confident that people would vote for me,” Pathan said.
In his youth,Yusuf and his younger brother Irfan Pathan also sold ‘ittar’ outside a masjid in Baroda, worked at a chemical factory and, at times, even drove an auto-rickshaw.
Irfan also played for the country, and the duo together have three World titles. Yusuf was also part of the 2011 World Cup winning team.
After playing 57 ODIs and 22 T20Is, he retired in 2022.
“One day, suddenly, I don’t know why, I said ‘Let’s do it, we never asked for this opportunity, it came to us, so let us take it’. Through this, we can help people and in case we have to go to Bengal, what is the problem,” Pathan recalled about his political debut.
“I never imagined I would become an MP but destiny took me to Bengal. I was born in Gujarat and now by God’s grace I’ am here, definitely to do some work, to work for public,” Pathan said.
(With inputs from agencies)