Irfan Pathan pointed out some of the flaws in the Rajasthan Royals’ insipid performance against the Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, May 9.
The former India all-rounder noted that there was a lack of coordination between stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel on the last ball of the 13th over in the first innings. The ball bowled by Yash Raj Punja was wrongly given as a wide by the umpire, said Pathan. The cricketer-turned-expert said that it was evident to the commentators, but Jurel, despite being in a great position to judge whether it was a wide or not, didn’t speak to Jaiswal and ask him to go for a review.
“Another thing I did not understand was that when Yashasvi Jaiswal came out as captain for the toss, the coordination on the field was missing completely. There was a delivery from Punja. It was the sixth ball, and the umpire still called it wide. Dhruv Jurel, the wicketkeeper, collected the ball. Now, as a wicketkeeper, he should know whether the ball has gone near the wide line or outside it. From our perspective as commentators, it looked like it was not a wide. But Jurel simply threw the ball back to the bowler. There was no discussion with the captain, and the captain also did not communicate with him. That was confusing,” Pathan said while speaking in a video on his YouTube channel.
Pathan mentioned that on replays, it was clear that the ball wasn’t wide. He also added how Shubman Gill hit the next ball for a boundary and made the Royals pay. The 41-year-old also stated that the Royals will have to address the lack of coordination ahead of their upcoming games.
“Then what happened on the very next ball? Because the umpire had wrongly given it as a wide, which was confirmed on the replay later, Shubman Gill hit a reverse sweep for a four. At the very least, there should be communication. There should be coordination. There should be some checking between players. That lack of coordination was not understandable at all. RR will need to give serious attention to this going forward,” Pathan said.
I have never felt this disappointed watching a Rajasthan Royals match: Irfan Pathan
Pathan said that he never felt so disappointed while watching the Rajasthan Royals play. He also lashed out at Jofra Archer for his dismal bowling performance in the match, where he conceded 46 runs in his three-over spell.
“I have never felt this disappointed watching a Rajasthan Royals match. That no-ball from Jofra Archer, and his bowling in the first over where he conceded 17 runs. This is the same bowler who has been taking wickets with the very first ball of the innings. You would remember that bouncer to Phil Salt. He has troubled batters right from the first over and dismissed them consistently this season. But here, he gave away 17 runs in the first over and then 16 in the second. I could not understand the strategy at all in the powerplay,” Pathan concluded.
Aakash Chopra praises Shubman Gill after GT’s win vs RR
In the one-sided fixture, the Titans amassed 229/4 in their 20 overs on the back of half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, In reply, the hosts were bowled out for 152, with Rashid Khan bagging a four-for.
