Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has slammed Rohit Sharma for his shot selection that saw his dismissal in Team India’s second innings of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test as well. He added that the Indian captain should have played Pat Cummins cautiously as he is the hosts’ biggest weapon with the ball and Rohit scored nine runs off 40 deliveries as India were bundled out for 155 on
Day 5 (Monday, December 30) in Melbourne as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan said, “When you play Bumrah, you play him very cautiously. Pat Cummins brings the same stature in terms of average and wicket-taking ability for Australia. So you know he is their main bowler and is very lethal. Then play him out. When Bumrah came in the last spell yesterday, he was extremely tired. You get him (Cummins) to bowl three or four spells at least. Tire him out and he will also make mistakes. There was no need for the expansive flick you played.”

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However, Rohit added 25 runs for the opening wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal (84 off 208) in 16.1 overs. He got an outside edge while trying to hit Pat Cummins and was caught by Mitchell Marsh at gully. Irfan Pathan also added that Pat Cummins devised a plan to dismiss Rohit Sharma as well.

“The setup was to keep bowling full and take the ball away from the stumps. Then he also bowled a few balls outside the off-stump. Pat Cummins had figured out that Rohit Sharma was repeatedly leaving deliveries. So he continuously bowled at the off-stump and tried to get him to play a false shot. The ball swung late, which means there was no reason for you to play with half the bat. It was a big mistake to play on the leg side, especially when you know you had played almost 17 overs. You had virtually done the difficult job, but one wrong shot and he lost his wicket,” Irfan Pathan concluded.