Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan heaped praise on Tim David for his explosive display in the third T20I of the ongoing series against India. The game, held on Sunday, November 2 at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, featured some thrilling power-hitting from the Australian star.
Tim David’s Power-Hitting Dominates the First Innings
Australia posted a competitive 186/6 in their 20 overs, with Tim David playing a sensational knock of 74 off 38 balls, smashing eight boundaries and five towering sixes. Marcus Stoinis also chipped in with a solid 64 off 39 deliveries to boost the home team’s total.
India’s bowling effort was spearheaded by Arshdeep Singh, who picked up three important wickets.
However, despite David’s heroics, Australia couldn’t finish the match on a high.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒙-𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝑻𝒊𝒎 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅’𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆,” 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
In the chase, India’s Washington Sundar kept the visitors alive with a late surge, scoring 49 off 23 balls*, guiding India to victory by five wickets.
Irfan Pathan Points Out India’s Tactical Miss
Irfan Pathan highlighted that Indian bowlers didn’t adapt to Tim David’s unique setup at the crease and allowed him too much room to free his hands.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒑, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆-𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎,” 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
He stressed that bowlers should have attacked the pads more instead of bowling at his off-stump channel.
“𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎. 𝑻𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒔. 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 — 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 70-80%. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
According to him, India underused the short-ball tactic and allowed David to access his hitting zones.
Key Learning for Indian Bowlers
Pathan emphasized the importance of reading batter positioning and reacting smartly to prevent free-scoring areas.
He concluded by saying that while David’s knock did not win the game for Australia, the technical analysis remains vital for future contests.
What’s Next?
The action now shifts to Gold Coast, where India and Australia will battle in the fourth T20I on Wednesday, November 5 at the Bill Pippen Oval.
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