In light of Virat Kohli’s remarkable fight upon his return to international cricket, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has emphasized the necessity of rotating the strike. Kohli has achieved an unwelcome and unique milestone in his ODI career by falling for two consecutive ducks in the three-match series against Australia. This is the first time he has worn the blue shirt for India since the successful campaign at the 2025 Champions Trophy in March.
Mitchell Starc was caught LBW by Xavier Bartlett for a four-ball duck in Adelaide, and Kohli outside-edged him for an eight-ball nought in the first meeting in Perth. Pathan blamed his failure on the absence of strike rotation, since Kohli has been trapped on one end for the first two innings, which is not typical of him.
The form of Virat Kohli is crucial. He must keep the scoreboard moving and rotate the strike. He makes it quite tough for anyone to stop him once he starts doing that.
Irfan Pathan stated on JioHotstar, “I hope Virat rotates the strike quickly and scores some runs because once he does, there’s no turning back.”
In the meantime, Irfan Pathan fellow panelist, former India opener Aakash Chopra, offered his thoughts on India’s bowling selection ahead of the series’ third and final ODI in Sydney on October 25. Since pacers are known to help spin, he thought the tourists might not require three at the site. He also thought that Kuldeep Yadav should be included in the XI after being benched for the previous two matches.
It is normally a spin-friendly pitch in Sydney, therefore three fast bowlers might not be required. Kuldeep Yadav likes to bowl here because it’s a large field that you can use to your advantage in the middle overs. India should use spin to create pressure and take wickets during the middle overs phase by playing Kuldeep, Chopra said.
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