Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan reckons head coach Gautam Gambhir would not have minced his words after the team’s below par batting performance against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. India was under the weather at 77-6 against the Americans before Suryakumar Yadav rescued his team.
SKY scored a magnificent knock of 84 runs off just 49 balls on Saturday to help his team post 161 runs on the board. Pathan, however, said Gambhir would not have talked about cricket when he invited the team for dinner at his place in Delhi.
“I have heard those words, ‘Do you want to hear the truth?’ You will expect that from Gautam for sure. He won’t speak much about cricket at home. When you invite the team home and sit together and have dinner, you want to keep a slightly soft atmosphere,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.
“However, on the ground, the way the batters performed against USA, Gautam would have definitely used those words in the dressing room, and he would have made the batters listen to the truth,” he added.
The 2007 T20 World Cup winner said Gambhir would not have over-analyzed his team’s batting show as they have been in terrific form with the bat.
“However, it’s the first match. The team is coming after playing excellent cricket. So you don’t want to go into too much detail. As it’s said, too much analysis leads to paralysis. So I am sure Gautam wouldn’t have done that. You let one match go,” he observed.
Pathan said Jasprit Bumrah will come back into the team’s playing XI and he questioned if an extra spinner will be added for the Pakistan clash.
“My eyes are already on the match on the 15th. Considering that, can the same team play against Namibia? There will be changes. If Bumrah comes, a fast bowler will go out. Considering where you are playing against Pakistan, will you want to go towards one more spinner?” he replied.
“If you want to do that, do you want to play one more spinner against Namibia? That one thing would definitely be there in the Indian team’s thought process. It will be interesting to see what they do. I will definitely want them to play the XI that will play against Pakistan,” Pathan observed.
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Thursday.
