Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan slammed Gujarat Titans’ batting after they suffered a 99-run loss against Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Monday. MI posted a par score of 199 runs on the board, with Tilak Varma scoring a 45-ball century. Varma scored 101 runs and scored the joint fastest century for the franchise, equaling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record.

However, GT were bowled out for 100 runs as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The home team failed to achieve any kind of impetus in their innings and could not come up with their best. Ashwani Kumar was the pick of the MI bowlers, returning with impressive figures of 4-24 in his quota of four overs. Furthermore, Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar bagged two wickets apiece.

None of the GT batters could even go past the 30-run mark as MI was too dominant with the ball.

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Channel, “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.”

Pathan said Varma should take his time in the initial phase of his innings and should catapult his attack after getting settled.

“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.

“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.

Mumbai Indians will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.