Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan did not hold back while analysing India’s 0–2 whitewash at home against South Africa. The hosts suffered a massive 408-run defeat in the second Test in Guwahati, their heaviest loss in Test history and Irfan called the team’s performance “shocking.”
In a video on his YouTube channel, Irfan criticised India’s lack of skill and structure, pointing out that the team appeared inferior to South Africa in both batting and bowling. “It’s really embarrassing. The way India has played Test cricket at home recently against South Africa is just shocking. This has been going on for a while. They got badly beaten by New Zealand at home too. Now here, they lost 0–2 and didn’t even seem to have the skills in batting or bowling. Even the South African spinners, whether it’s Harmer or Maharaj, bowled much better,” Irfan said.
He argued that India must stop overcrowding the XI with all-rounders and instead include more specialist batters to provide stability. “How are you going to save a match? You’ve got to play the whole day. You won’t be able to hold on without pure batters. You need them. Talking about this Test match, only Sai Sudharsan, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal were pure batters. The rest were all-rounders, wicketkeeper-batters, bowling all-rounders, batting all-rounders. When you have so many all-rounders, you’ll struggle in specialist roles. We need a proper roadmap going forward,” he added.
India were already under pressure after losing the first Test by 30 runs in Kolkata. In the second Test, they looked competitive only on Day 1, before South Africa took complete control with both bat and ball.
It was a disastrous series for India’s batting unit. Their average of 15.23 across the two Tests was their second-lowest in any series, home or away. Their worst remains 12.42 during the 2002–03 tour of New Zealand.
