Irfan Pathan warns Virat Kohli’s BGT demons have returned, casting shadow over ODI career
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Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has attributed the failures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to less game time and said that the demons of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have returned.
India could not go past the Australian attack, as the batters in the Indian top order collapsed early in front of the Aussie pacers. Starc dismissed Kohli, Rohit fell to Josh Hazlewood, and lastly, Nathan Ellis got an edge of Shubman Gill's bat.
During the first ODI in Perth, Rohit fell after scoring just eight runs, while Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck. This marked Kohli's first dismissal in ODIs in Australia without having scored a single run.
“Fitness is one thing, and game time is one thing" - Irfan Pathan
The much-awaited return of the great Indian Virat Kohli ended with a disappointing dismissal in front of the legendary Australian speedster. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has attributed these failures to less game time.
Irfan Pathan further remarked that the demons of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have returned, chasing Virat Kohli, which forced him to retire from the longest format of the game.
“Fitness is one thing, and game time is one thing. That is why Rohit looked a bit troubled. It looked like the demons of the BGT were back for Virat Kohli. I hope this is not the case in Adelaide and Sydney," said Irfan Pathan on his YouTube channel.
"KL Rahul batted well today. Shreyas Iyer got into an awkward position. Maybe he can work a bit more on his technique. Axar does well whenever he gets an opportunity to bat ahead,” Pathan praised the quality stuff from Axar Patel and KL Rahul.
“Whenever you tour such countries, it is always better to go early and play some games," opined Irfan Pathan
On a surface that aided bowlers to a large extent, not only did the Australian bowlers dominate and take the upper hand, but even the Aussie batters tackled the threat from Indian bowlers with ease. Former cricketer Pathan opined that Indian bowlers could not hit the right line and length, which could trouble the batters to a large extent.
“Whenever you tour such countries, it is always better to go early and play some games. It was going to be difficult for India. It was going to be a challenge, as the conditions would not be easy. Our bowlers could not get the right lengths."
"The batters also had trouble with the bounce. If you had played a game or two, these mistakes would not have happened. It is important to think about these things going forward,” he added.
Will Kuldeep Yadav return for the Adelaide ODI?
Kuldeep Yadav, the veteran left-arm spinner, was snubbed from the Indian playing XI, despite his dominance for the Indian team across both the white-ball and the red-ball formats. Yadav recently rose to prominence again after his comeback to both the T20I and the Test teams.
He picked 29 wickets for India in the last month, after having been benched throughout the 2025 India tour of England. That might be the fate for Kuldeep in the Australia tour as well; however, former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged Gautam Gambhir to reconsider his decision of playing so many all-rounders and rather aim to bring back Kuldeep into the Indian squad ahead of the Adelaide game.
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India National Cricket Team Australia National Cricket Team Virat Kohli Irfan Pathan Rohit Sharma India tour of Australia
