Team India endured a winless streak in their recent bilateral T20I tours of Ireland and England. Under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, the reigning T20 world champions lost to Ireland 2-0 and to England 4-0.
After the debacle, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan advocated for Rajat Patidar and Riyan Parag’s inclusion in the T20I squad.
Pathan pointed out that relying too heavily on a left-heavy batting order makes it easy for opposition captains to control the game. Hence, he threw his weight behind Patidar and Parag to restore balance and provide crucial bowling options.
Notably, India had six left-handers in their top seven during the England series, with Shreyas Iyer being the only right-hander. To fix the issue, Sanju Samson was brought back into the playing XI for the fifth and final T20I.
"India also needs to bring more right-handers and make them ready. We have a lot of left-handers anyway. If all are left-handers in the top seven, you have to find right-handers and make them ready. I would want to see if Rajat Patidar gets an opportunity going forward. Second, I want to see Riyan Parag. He is also a right-hander, and he also brings bowling. If he does well in domestic and A matches, then you must bring him. He can give you two overs as the sixth bowler," Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
Teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi failed to live up to the expectations in his debut series against England, returning with scores of 14, 13, and 15 in three outings. However, Pathan urged the Indian team management to persist with the 15-year-old, who he believes would do well in the future.
"I still feel that if there 5-6 new guys in the team, it is important to give them time. For example, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. He will do well going forward in international cricket, and I have no doubt. He will perform in different pitches as well. He is 15 and will learn. Indian cricket will have to persist with him and be patient."
India’s young batting unit struggled in both series, failing to counter the extra bounce generated by the opposition fast bowlers.
Commenting on Indian batters' struggle, Pathan highlighted a worrying trend in domestic cricket camps where players actively demand flat, batting-friendly tracks rather than challenging themselves on varied surfaces.
"The most important thing is to change the mindset of the players. I am not talking only about international cricket but domestic cricket as well. Wherever there is a camp, everyone wants a flat pitch. Everyone does not want to play a lot of pace and only wants to focus on range hitting. No one wants to work on their skills. This is the mindset. And this is real feedback from real coaches. This mindset will have to change. Coaches and selectors will do their work, but you have a responsibility as players as well. We need to bring about an attitude change in batting," Pathan said.
He criticized batters for over-focusing on power-hitting at the expense of developing core defensive and survival techniques.
"Cricket is not just about hitting sixes on flat pitches. You need to have the skill to hit big shots but also to play low-risk cricket and score runs. Whenever there is even a slight bounce or angle, we struggle. If we are the best in the world, we have to perform like that wherever we play. We should ask for different conditions by ourselves to prepare for this," Pathan remarked.
