Irfan Pathan Reveals The Difference Between India And England In The First T20I

Former Indian left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan has opined on India’s crushing loss to England in the first T20 international on Friday in Ahmedabad. England inflicted an eight-wicket defeat in the first of the five T20Is on Friday to take the lead as they cruised to a 125-run target in 15.3 overs. Irfan Pathan underlined pace as the most significant difference between the two teams.

Also Read: 5 Indian Players Who Should Now Retire From The T20 Format

England’s potent bowling attack did not let India’s batting line-up settle as they maintained the pressure from the word-go. England, who played four specialist seamers along with a seam-bowling all-rounder in Ben Stokes, accounted for six out of seven wickets to fall. Right-arm paceman Jofra Archer bagged figures of 4-0-22-3 while Ben Stokes, Mark Wood, and Chris Jordan took one each. Left-arm pacer Sam Curran was the only one going wicketless.

Simultaneously, India went for three specialist spinners in Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Yuzvendra Chahal. Though Chahal and Sundar took the two wickets to fall in England’s innings; however, the tourists had cut the target to half by then. The opening stand between Jos Buttler and Jason Roy was worth 72. Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – the two pacemen to play for India could not make a difference.

Irfan Pathan took to his official Twitter handle and said, “What was the reason behind India’s loss in the first T20I against England? I think Pace was the difference”. The post-match presentation saw Virat Kohli admitting that India had no idea what to do in the wicket. In contrast, his opposite number Eoin Morgan said that his bowlers tried nothing extraordinary as they decided to hit length and bowl straight. The second T20I begins in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Below is Irfan Pathan’s tweet:

What was the reason India lost the first t20 vs England ? I think PACE was the difference

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 13, 2021