Posting a picture of himself with a rakhi tied on his wrist, the Baroda cricketer took to his official Facebook account to wish his fans `Happy Rakshabandhan`, only to once again find himself being subjected to trolls on religious grounds.
Pathan was quick to become a target of Islamic radical trolls who either labelled the veteran all-rounder as un-Islamic or shamed him for celebrating a `Hindu festival`.
Around 1,670 comments were posted over the next 19 hours on Facebook, 80 on Twitter and a little over 300 on Instagram on his picture.
Hitting back over the trolls, Irfan put out a strong statement condemning all the critics.
He said, "using foul language. Talking each other rudely on basis of religion. It shows nothing but ur own learning which some ppl have gathered in their mind over the years. Stop this nonsense of putting each other down".
However, there were some people who appreciated the 32-year-old's move to celebrate the festival.