New Delhi [India], October 22 : Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan attributed stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's failures during the first ODI against Australia at Perth and team playing a deep batting line up to a lack of game time on part of both legends and said that "processes need to be completed no matter how big a player you are."
The former all-rounder, on the other hand, hailed wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant for giving himself some game time against South Africa A before the Proteas' tour of India in November.
Pathan was speaking on his YouTube channel. Both Rohit and Virat, who were last seen in Indian colours during the ICC Champions Trophy win back in March, had poor outings at Perth, scoring eight and a duck respectively. While they played the IPL from April-June, they did not have much game time as they had retired from Tests ahead of the England tour and had retired from T20Is last year, missing out on an intense five-Test tour to England, the T20I Asia Cup and home series against West Indies consisting of two Tests.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Pathan did say that 'Ro-Ko' would not be judged by their performance in every match, given their massive and impressive ODI numbers and their proven greatness.
"But you have to do the things that are needed, you have to complete the processes, you have to play matches. In this regard, they have fallen behind. If they had played some matches before coming, and shown some form, the team management might have thought seven batters are enough, and we can include Kuldeep Yadav. But now, since the team is unsure of the form of three players, it is not happening," he said.
"It is not like they (Virat, Rohit, and Shreyas Iyer) did not have a lot of options to play cricket (during the break). I believe that no matter how big a player you are, when it comes to Indian cricket, you have to make sure that you return after following the proper process. We have seen both Rohit and Virat work hard, but match fitness and normal fitness are two different things. For example, Rishabh Pant, coming after injury, will play for India 'A' against South Africa 'A'," he added.
"Pant, who is a match-winner in Tests, if he wants, can say that he is fit, I am fine, I will play the Tests against South Africa straightaway. But, no. It does not happen like that, and that is what he will be playing for India 'A', and that is how exactly it should happen," Pathan concluded.
While Iyer did not feature in any Test and T20I competition for India after leading Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the IPL final, he did give himself some game time in the Duleep Trophy and Australia A's tour to India for India A. While he flopped in red-ball formats, he scored a century and fifty each in three ODIs against Australia A, as a captain.
Pant is set to make his competitive cricket comeback as captain of India A, leading the team against South Africa A in a four-day match on October 30. He will be playing both matches against South Africa A before the Test series starts in mid-November.
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