Irfan Pathan, the former Indian all-rounder, blasted the Gujarat Titans batters for their poor show against the Mumbai Indians at their home ground in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Mumbai Indians’ hard work finally paid off, and they went on to win their second game of the season after Tilak Varma, the left-handed batter, fired in with a promising performance. He scored his maiden IPL century, equalling the fastest ever for the Mumbai Indians off just 45 balls.
Irfan Pathan, the former Indian pacer, claimed that the Gujarat Titans batters performed so badly in the match that they lost to Tilak Varma alone, forget about the entire team.
“Gujarat Titans lost to Tilak Varma” – Irfan Pathan
Irfan’s remarks came after Tilak scored 101* runs with the bat, and in return, the Gujarat Titans were dismissed for just 100 runs in their batting innings. Pathan mocked the Titans’ batting order for not managing to go past Tilak’s individual score.
“Gujarat lost to Tilak Varma, meaning they could not even score that many runs. Tilak Varma made 101 and they made 100. Gujarat’s batting performance was that poor in this match,” claimed Pathan.
Irfan Pathan suggests the best approach for Tilak Varma after the GT clash
Following the match against the Gujarat Titans, the former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested that Tilak Varma should ideally use this approach, where he can start slow against the spinners and then go on to dominate the fast bowlers in the death.
“This is the template that he should follow that if he is facing spin in the early part of his innings, he should focus on singles and doubles and avoid going for big shots because this batter is a brilliant hitter of fast bowling. Prasidh Krishna is one of Gujarat’s best bowlers and their highest wicket-taker, and he targeted him, scoring more than 40 runs off 16 balls.
Pathan also pointed out how Tilak played most of his big shots after the second time out, despite coming out to bat after the fall of wickets in the powerplay.
“After the timeout, he played the first shot on the up, then played the lap shot, then over covers, and even handled slower balls very well by holding his shape. He has a wide range of shots, including shots through mid-wicket, fine leg, and square on the off side,” he added.
Irfan Pathan praises Tilak Varma’s adaptive brilliance in the middle order
Irfan Pathan did not back out there and continued that Tilak has batted in several roles in the middle order and has never disappointed the Mumbai Indians.
“He bats at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6. Wherever he is asked to bat, he adapts. Now when he got the opportunity to bat, the bowling in the powerplay was quite dangerous, which is why he had to come in a bit early, but he did not disappoint the Mumbai camp at all. Once again, he showed his versatility in batting,” they said.
“He is also a leader. When a young player like this bats in different positions early in his career but stays flexible and still performs, it shows his quality. He finds solutions,” he added.
He then continued, “No player is perfect, every player has some weakness or area that opponents try to exploit. He can be targeted by spinners too, but he never hesitates to bat in the middle order. He is always ready to do it for the team and keeps finding ways to improve, even though he prefers batting at No. 3. That is why it is so pleasing to see when a player like this scores runs.”
