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Irfan Pathan remains frustrated with Virat Kohli’s dissapointing form. He also questioned why the batting icon has not relied on domestic cricket to work on his technical flaws.
Irfan Pathan slammed Virat Kohli’s lack of performances of late. (Image; Screengrab, AFP)
Former Indian cricketer, Irfan Pathan has called for the end of the ‘Superstar’ culture within the Indian team and change to a more team-first approach after India suffered a crushing defeat by six wickets to hand over the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in a decade.
Pathan also called out the Indian batting ace, Virat Kohli for not looking towards domestic cricket to help work on himself and find his best form with the bat. Kohli has been victim to the channel outside the off-stump line for countless occasions of late and many criticized the batting great for not working on his technical flaw, resulting in a below-par season for the 36-year-old.
Pathan in a post-match segment with Star Sports said, “India does not need ‘Superstar Culture,’ India needs team culture. Tell me when was the last time Virat Kohli played domestic cricket when he was free, when did it happen? How long has it been?”
“Even the great Sachin Tendulkar played after that and he has also retired. He didn’t need it but still came forward and played to stand on the pitch, field for four days and bat in the second innings. Making runs or not, who’s going to tell him? He’s made a lot of runs,” he added.
The former Indian all-rounder also suggested that the senior batters’ lack of performances including Kohli’s, should result in consequences. Reflecting on Kohli’s sub-par 2024 season, Pathan suggests that the team bring in youngsters and give them a consistent run of games, indicating that they make the same contributions as their senior counterparts who are not in form.
“When it comes to the Indian team, in 2024 the first innings average for Virat Kohli is 15 and if we take it for the last five years, it won’t even be crossing the 30s. Does India deserve this from their senior players? Better than that is to give consistent chances for the younger players, they will give an average of 25-30 because we are talking about the team here not individuals,” Pathan commented.
Pathan clarified that his intentions were not to try and insult or degrade the batting icon but remain frustrated by his manner of dismissals and how a batter of his quality has not been able to rectify the technical issue despite having vast resources and quality advice in former players to call to.
He mentioned, “It’s not like we are talking to try and degrade Virat Kohli, he has indeed made a lot of runs and done well but if you are getting out the same way repeatedly and doing the same thing again and again, not working on the technical things like Sunny sir mentioned, he is here on the ground, how long would it take for him to make that change?”
“To fix that mistake there needs to be efforts in place and that is not visible,” he concluded.
- Location :
Sydney, Australia
