Table of Contents
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has launched a scathing attack on the captain Shubman Gill but hailed Rohit Sharma after the third and final ODI against England at Lord’s on July 19.
The India National Cricket Team suffered a crushing 27-run defeat in the third and final ODI against the England National Cricket Team at Lord’s on Sunday.
With this defeat, India lost the ODI series 1-2 to England too after being whitewashed in the five-match T20I series under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy. Amid this, Nathan Smith beats Shubman Gill to win ICC Player of the Month award for June 2026.
Irfan Pathan questions Shubman Gill's fitness after Lord's ODI defeat
After India’s disappointing tour of England, Irfan Pathan raised questions on Shubman Gill's fitness. However, Pathan has been impressed by the Indian captain’s contribution with the bat, but he feels Gill now needs to work harder on his fitness to play match-winning innings for his team.
Chasing a massive target of 388 runs at Lord's, Gill gave India a good start with a solid 77 runs from 84 balls. He hit 10 fours and one six and looked in good touch. But the right-handed batter was not looking that comfortable during his knock, and he was even seen stretching his legs.
"He will have to work on his fitness": Irfan Pathan on Shubman Gill's poor fitness
Reacting to the same, the former World Cup winner has stressed that Gill must give more attention to his fitness. He warned the young captain that if Shubman Gill keeps facing fitness issues during long innings, it can break his rhythm and also affect India's momentum during the tough run chase like Lord’s ODI.
Pathan also felt India should have batted with more attacking intent from the start of their chase as they fell short by 27 runs of the target in the final ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday.
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “Throughout the game, the run rate was around six itself. Could we have pushed it better as a batting side? The plan was fine; Shubman Gill also played well. No doubt he played a good knock, but he will have to work on his fitness.
If he is in trouble again and again, it will break the momentum. He will have to give more importance to this. He was struggling today, too. Could we have given more importance to the run-rate from the start itself?”
Irfan Pathan calls Rohit Sharma 'India's diamond' after record Lord's century
Meanwhile, Pathan said that Rohit Sharma once again proved why he is one of India's biggest match-winners by playing a fearless innings under huge pressure. Before the Lord's ODI, Rohit was under huge pressure after poor batting performances and facing constant retirement rumors.
However, the former Indian captain answered everyone with the record-breaking century. Rohit played a magnificent knock of 138 runs from 110 balls, smashing 17 fours and five sixes. His brilliant innings gave England a tough fight but couldn’t win the game and series for his team.
Pathan hailed Rohit, saying he stayed calm and played with full confidence despite all the criticism and retirement talk and showed his experience and class when India needed him the most. He signed off by saying, “Given the amount of pressure that was on Rohit, it never looked even once that he was under pressure. He batted brilliantly.
He was like a diamond that shines more under pressure. He is the diamond of Indian cricket. I know a lot of things have happened, and a lot of talks are happening, and some are true as well, but it was amazing to see him bat this way. He showed that he will play solidly till the day he is there. We were in the game till he was out there.”
