Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has made a scathing attack on captain Shubman Gill after the third and final ODI against England at Lord’s on July 19, but praised Rohit Sharma.
The Indian national cricket team suffered a crushing defeat by 27 runs in the third and final ODI against the England national cricket team at Lord’s on Sunday.
Along with this defeat, after being eliminated in the five-match T20 series under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, India also lost the ODI series to England by 1-2. Meanwhile, Nathan Smith defeated Shubman Gill to win the ICC Player of the Month award for June 2026.
After the defeat in Lord’s ODI, Irfan Pathan raised questions on the fitness of Shubman Gill.
After the disappointing performance on India’s tour of England, Irfan Pathan had raised questions on the fitness of Shubman Gill. Although Pathan is impressed with the Indian captain’s contribution with the bat, he feels that Gill now needs to work more on his fitness to play match-winning innings for his team.
While chasing the huge target of 388 runs at Lord’s, Gill gave a good start to India by scoring 77 runs in 84 balls. He hit 10 fours and one six and looked in good form. But the right-handed batsman was not looking that comfortable during his innings and was also seen stretching his legs.
“He has to work on his fitness”: Irfan Pathan on Shubman Gill’s poor fitness
Responding to the same, the former World Cup winner has emphasized that Gill should pay more attention to his fitness. He warned the young captain that if Shubman Gill continues to face fitness problems during long innings, it could break his rhythm and also affect India’s pace during tough run chases like the Lord’s ODI.
Pathan also feels that India should have batted more aggressively while chasing the target in the final ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday as they fell 27 runs short of the target.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “Throughout the game, the run rate was around six. Could we have done it better as a batting side? The plan was good; Shubman Gill also played well. There is no doubt that he played a good innings, but he has to work on his fitness.”
If he gets into trouble again and again, it will break the momentum. They will have to give more importance to this thing. He was struggling even today. “Could we have given more importance to the run-rate from the beginning?”
After record century at Lord’s, Irfan Pathan called Rohit Sharma ‘India’s diamond’
Meanwhile, Pathan said Rohit Sharma once again proved why he is one of India’s biggest match-winners by playing a fearless innings under immense pressure. Ahead of the Lord’s ODI, Rohit was under immense pressure after poor batting performances and facing constant retirement rumours.
However, the former Indian captain answered everyone with a record-breaking century. Rohit played a brilliant inning of 138 runs in 110 balls with the help of 17 fours and five sixes. His brilliant innings gave a tough fight to England, but could not win the match and series for his team.
Pathan praised Rohit, saying that despite all the criticism and talk of retirement, he remained calm and played with full confidence and showed his experience and class when India needed him the most. He said, “Looking at the amount of pressure that was on Rohit, not even once did it feel like he was under pressure. He batted brilliantly.”
He was like a diamond which shines brighter under pressure. He is the diamond of Indian cricket. I know a lot of things have happened, and a lot of things are being said, and some are true, but it was amazing to see him bat like that. He showed that he will play strongly as long as he is there. As long as he was out we were in the game.”
