WATCH: ‘Sachin Tendulkar khel kar retire bhi ho chuke’ – Irfan Pathan lashes out at Virat Kohli for not taking domestic cricket seriously post abysmal tour of Australia

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan had a go at Virat Kohli after the five-match Test series against Australia ended on Sunday. The 40-year-old called out Kohli for not giving domestic cricket priority after a below-par showing in Australia. The 36-year-old scored just 190 runs from nine innings, out of which on eight occasions he was caught outside off stump. 

Speaking on Star Sports, Pathan said, “Bharat ko superstar culture nahi chaiye. Bharat ko chaiye team culture. Mujhe ab yeh bataiye, kab hua tha Virat Kohli domestic cricket khele? Jab free bhi the.” (India doesn’t need superstar culture; what it needs is team culture. When was the last time Kohli played domestic cricket, even when he was free?) To which the presenter replied way back in 2012. 

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The 40-year-old said, “Kitna time hua? Dashak ki baat kar rahe, uske baad toh Sachin Tendulkar bhi khel gaye aur retire bhi ho gaye. Matlab unko zaroorat nahi thi fir bhi who aake khelte the na bhai. Wo isliye khelte the who pitch pe khada rehna, fielding karna, second inning main dobara aana. Run banana nahi banana inse kaun bataeyga." (How long has it been? A decade? Even Sachin Tendulkar played and retired since then. A great like Tendulkar didn’t have to play domestic cricket, but even he did. It’s about getting a feel of the pitch, fielding, then coming back to bat in the second innings. No one can tell these guys how to score runs.)

Irfan Pathan addresses Kohli's bad form

40-year-old Irfan Pathan, during his chat with Star Sports, continued, “Inhone bahut run banaye, lekin 2024 main jis tarah se first innings main. Jahan se match set kia jata hai, wahan pe 15 ka ausat hai Virat Kohli ka. Aur agar hum last ke 5 saal ka akda nikalenge Virat Kohli ka 30 ka ausat b nahi  hai. (They have scored a lot of runs, but in 2024, in the first innings, from where the match is set, Kohli’s average is 15. In the last five years, if we see, he doesn’t even averag 30.)

“Kya Bhartiya team deserve karti aise senior Khiladi, ussey ache ap kisi youngsters ko lagatar mauka dijiye ussey kahiye aap tayar ho jaiye, 25-30 ka ausat who bhi de dega aapko. Kyuki yahan pe baat team ki hai, individuals ki nahi hai." (Does the Indian team deserve this for their senior player? Instead of this, give a youngster consistent rope, even he will give an average of 25-30. This is about the team, not an individual.)  

The former Indian star ended by saying, “Aur Virat Kohli ki baat kare toh hum yeh bilkul yeh baat nahi kar rahe ki unhone run nahi banaye. Unhone bahut kamaal kia hai Bharat ke liye. Bahut performance kia hai lekin ek hi galti se baar-baar out ho rahe, ek galti baar baar kar rahe, do galityo ke beech gap nahi kar rahe, us galti ko aap theek karne hi koshish nahi kar rahe, Sunny sir yahan maidan main hote hai, kitni der lagti hai baat karne main." (If we speak about Kohli, he has scored runs in the past, performed well and made the nation proud. But you cannot commit the same mistakes again and again. Sunny sir (Sunil Gavaskar) is there on the ground; how long does it take to talk to him?)