Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has questioned India’s approach after the T20 World Cup match against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday. Pathan reckons any team other than the USA won’t have let India off the hook.

The hosts were left tottering at 77-6 after they were put into bat by the USA captain Monank Patel. India continued to bat with their aggressive approach, but didn’t alter their game despite losing regular wickets against the Americans.

If not for Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering knock of 84 runs off just 49 balls, India would have struggled to post 120 on the board.

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “I will be watching closely to see what approach the Indian team takes going forward. I think if only one or two wickets fall in the powerplay, then your approach is absolutely fine. But if more than two wickets fall in the powerplay, then it is better to adapt to the conditions and the situation. Otherwise, any other team besides the USA will not give you a chance.”

Pathan said a big team like South Africa or Australia would have tried to get rid of Suryakumar Yadav.

He added, “If it had been Australia or South Africa instead of the USA, they would have tried to get Suryakumar Yadav out as well. It seemed that in the end, the USA did not want to put too much pressure on Suryakumar Yadav. They wanted to send him at the non-striker’s end, and in that, the USA made mistakes. Another team would not let you do that.”

The former swing bowler advised India to maintain their aggressive approach in the next game of the T20I showpiece.

“In the next match, the team should maintain that fearless approach. But if two wickets fall early, then it becomes very important to focus on building partnerships. There is a difference between a bilateral series and the World Cup, and that is what we saw today.”

India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.