Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has blamed less game time for the failures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and said the demons of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy are back.
India could not get ahead of the Australian attack, as the Indian top-order batsmen collapsed early against the Australian fast bowlers. Starc dismissed Kohli, Rohit became the victim of Josh Hazlewood and finally Nathan Ellis got the edge of Shubman Gill’s bat.
During the first ODI in Perth, Rohit was out after scoring just eight runs, while Virat Kohli was out for zero. This was Kohli’s first dismissal in ODIs without scoring a single run in Australia.
“Fitness is one thing, and game time is another” – Irfan Pathan
The much-awaited comeback of Indian great Virat Kohli ended with a disappointing dismissal against the great Australian fast bowler. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has attributed these failures to less playing time.
Irfan Pathan further commented that the demons of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy are back to haunt Virat Kohli, forcing him to retire from the longest format of the game.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “Fitness is one thing and game time is one thing. That’s why Rohit looked a little upset. It seemed like the devil of BGT is back for Virat Kohli. I hope that doesn’t happen in Adelaide and Sydney.”
“KL Rahul batted well today. Shreyas Iyer got caught in an awkward position. Maybe he can work a little more on his technique. Axar has done well whenever he gets a chance to bat forward,” Pathan said, praising the quality stuff from Axar Patel and KL Rahul.
“Whenever you tour such countries, it’s always better to go early and play some games,” Irfan Pathan said.
On a surface where the bowlers were assisted to a great extent, not only did the Australian bowlers dominate and gain the lead, but the Australian batsmen also faced the threat of the Indian bowlers with ease. Former cricketer Pathan said that Indian bowlers could not hit the right line and length, which could cause a lot of trouble to the batsmen.
“Whenever you tour such countries, it is always better to go early and play some games. It was going to be tough for India. It was going to be a challenge, because the conditions will not be easy. Our bowlers could not find the right length.”
He said, “The batsmen also had trouble with the bounce. If you had played one or two matches, these mistakes would not have happened. It is important to think about these things for the future.”
Will Kuldeep Yadav return for Adelaide ODI?
Experienced left-arm spinner, Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from the Indian playing eleven, despite the Indian team’s dominance in both white-ball and red-ball formats. Yadav has re-emerged into prominence after recently returning to both the T20I and Test squads.
After sitting on the bench during India’s 2025 tour of England, he took 29 wickets for India last month. Kuldeep may meet the same fate on Australia tour also; However, former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged Gautam Gambhir to reconsider his decision of playing so many all-rounders and aims to get Kuldeep back into the Indian team before the Adelaide game.
Also read: Asif Afridi out after scoring 38 runs against South Africa, becomes Pakistan’s second oldest test debutant
