irfan khan pathan

Irfan Pathan’s Epic Rant Goes Viral. Conclusion: “MI’s Story Ends Here”

Danijones8 months ago04 mins

Following Mumbai Indians’ (MI) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested that there is a lack of respect in the dressing room for captain Hardik Pandya. With eight defeats in 11 matches, Hardik has endured a disastrous first season in IPL as MI captain. Irfan, who has been critical of Hardik since the start of the season, once again questioned the tactics of the MI captain. He pointed out how Hardik gave the ball to Naman Dhir when KKR were tottering at 57/5. Irfan said that Hardik’s decision allowed KKR to rebuild their innings with the help of Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, who was playing his first game of the season. “Mumbai Indians’ story ends here. This team was so good on paper, but it wasn’t managed. The questions that were raised on Hardik Pandya’s captaincy were absolutely right. When you’ve restricted KKR to 57/5, you didn’t have to give Naman Dhir three successive overs. You had to bring your main bowlers, and you gave your sixth bowler three overs. Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer posted a strong partnership. You could’ve bowled them out on 150 instead you let them score 170,” Irfan said in a viral video. Irfan Pathan exposes Hardik Pandya Captaincy – “Mumbai Indians solid team on paper not managed well by their captain again. This Complete team failure on this loss.” pic.twitter.com/oIdW97Chao — (@rushiii_12) May 3, 2024 Irfan further suggested that the MI players don’t respect Hardik as captain, which has further hampered the team this season. “Captaincy has a big impact in the game. Mumbai Indians don’t look like a united team, and management needs to consider this. Players need to respect and accept the captain, and we didn’t see that on-field. They have to improve in that aspect,” he added. The win helped KKR retain their second position in the table but now with 14 points to their credit from 10 games. Meanwhile, MI remained at the 9th spot with 6 points after playing 11 games. However, mathematically Mumbai Indians are still alive in the race to playoffs. They need to win their remaining three matches and hope for favourable results from other games to end at top 4. MI remaining games are against SRH, KKR and LSG on May 6, 11 and 17, respectively. Topics mentioned in this article

“If This Was Virat Kohli….”: Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif Slam Critics’ Double-Standard With SRH Star’s Example

Danijones8 months ago05 mins

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star batter Virat Kohli has been piling up runs in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), despite criticism over his strike-rate. The former RCB captain is second in scoring charts with 500 runs in 10 matches, only nine runs behind current Orange Cap holder Ruturaj Gaikwad. However, his knocks have been often overshadowed by his debatable strike-rate. Amid criticism, Kohli has found the backing of former India cricketers Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif. Irfan and Kaif slammed his critics for showing double standards with the interesting example of SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) batter Travis Head. For the unversed, Head has been in sensational form in the IPL himself. The Australian opener has scored 396 runs in nine matches, striking at over 194. However, during SRH’s game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, even Head struggled to time the ball. At one point, he was batting on 25 off as many deliveries, and ended up scoring 58 off 44 balls with a strike-rate of 131.8. Speaking on Head’s knock, Irfan and Kaif suggested that if Kohli had played a similar knock, everyone would have been talking about his strike rate for days. “According to his ability, you have never seen him play like this. No matter what you say that there was good bowling and everything, but every cricketer should be treated equally,” Irfan said on Star Sports. Kaif echoed his sentiments, and added: “You are right, if this was Virat Kohli, I can guarantee that people would have said only 58 runs in 44 balls? What is this? They would say it is low and there would have debates about his strike rate. But I believe that this was a good innings by Head.” Irfan further explained how Kohli has been carrying RCB with his batting, especially with the franchise languishing at the bottom of the points table. “But if there was Virat Kohli instead, people would have stuck to the strike rate but here we are talking about taking responsibility for team’s victory, so please treat everyone equally,” Irfan added. Kohli had also addressed the debate surrounding his strike-rate. He had taken a swipe at his critics after the match against Gujarat Titans and said: “All the people who talk about [my] strike rate and me not playing spin well are the ones who love to talk about these things. But for me, it is just about winning the game. There’s a reason why you do it for 15 years. Because you do this day in and day out and won games for your team,” said Kohli after the Gujarat Titans game. “I am not sure if you haven’t been in that situation, to sit and speak about the game from the box. I don’t think it is the same thing. I am just doing my job. People can talk about their own ideas and assumption on the game (sic),” he added. Kohli will have the chance to reclaim the Orange Cap when RCB take on GT on Saturday. Topics mentioned in this article

“Lack Of Faith, Lack Of Skill”: Irfan Pathan Tears Into Hardik Pandya’s Captaincy

Danijones8 months ago8 months ago07 mins

Mumbai Indians captain and all-rounder Hardik Pandya was put to sword by fans and former cricketers after yet another underwhelming show in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Hardik faced brutal criticism from prominent former players lost the high-profile encounter against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday. Hardik, who bowled the last over the innings, was ripped apart by the 42-year-old MS Dhoni, conceding 20 runs in the final 4 balls. His decision to bowl at the absolute end has been questioned by many, including former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan. (IPL 2024 Points Table) Booed and heckled by fans ever since he took over MI’s captaincy, Pandya found himself in the line of fire. Hardik was openly criticised by Irfan who put big question marks on the decision-making that the former Gujarat Titans skipper brings to the ground. It was the 26 runs that Pandya conceded in the final over with Mahendra Singh Dhoni going hammer and tongs, which proved to be decisive as Chennai Super Kings notched up a 20-run win over MI. Irfan feels the decision to bowl himself over Akash Madhwal shows lack of faith on the latter. Hardik Pandya bowling the last over showed the lack of faith on Akash madhwal’s bowling and his own lack of skill as a death over bowler. — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 14, 2024 The likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen also questioned Hardik’s captaincy in the match. “Oh, absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy. They should have been restricted despite the fact that Ruturaj Gaikwad had batted so well along with Shivam Dube. I do believe that they should have been restricted to 185-190,” Gavaskar said. “Probably the worst kind of bowling that I’ve seen for a long, long time,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports during the innings break after CSK posted 206 for 4. “It almost looks like I’ve had this embrace with my hero. I’ve got the kind of deliveries that he’s gonna hit for sixes. One six is fine. The next one is a length ball when you know this batter is hunting for a length ball that he wants to hit. “Third ball is again a full toss on the legs when you know he (Dhoni) is looking for a six.” Pandya finished with figures of 2 for 43 from his four overs and also had a tough time with the bat, managing a mere two runs off six balls at a crucial juncture of the game as MI ended at 186 for six despite a fine 63-ball 105 by former skipper Rohit Sharma. Pandya has faced fans’ ire right from the first match and even at the Wankhede Stadium, boos have followed him, forcing Rohit (against Rajasthan Royals) and Virat Kohli (in MI’s game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru) to ask the crowd to calm down a bit. Pietersen feels the outside noise is taking a toll on the flamboyant all-rounder. “I actually think, with Hardik Pandya, everything away from the game is affecting him so much. He’s smiling too much when he does the toss. He’s trying to act like he is so happy. He is not happy. I have been there. I have been in the firing line. And I can tell you now, it affects you. “The boos we have been hearing just now and I know they are happy to see former CSK captain (Dhoni), the lion, smacking him (Hardik) all over the park, it hurts you. Because he has emotions. And he is an Indian player and he doesn’t want to be treated like this. So when this is happening, it’s affecting him, it’s affecting his cricket and something needs to happen.” The 43-year-old former batter also wondered why Pandya didn’t use his spinners when the pacers were being targeted by CSK batters. “What I saw this evening wasn’t good enough. I saw a captain that had plan A from a team meeting that was five hours ago and a captain that didn’t want to go to plan B when he should have gone to plan B. “Like how on this Earth have you not bowled a spinner when your seamers are going for 20. Brian Lara said can we please bowl a spinner? Somebody needs to bowl here. You need to change the pace of the game.” MI will next take on Punjab Kings on April 18 in Chandigarh.