"It didn't affect him at all" - Irfan Pathan lauds RCB star's brutal innings in AUS vs IND 2025 3rd T20I

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lauded Australia’s Tim David for his explosive half-century in the third T20I of the five-match series. The contest was played on Sunday, November 2, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.

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Put in to bat, Australia posted 186/6 in their 20 overs, with Tim David shining with a brilliant 74 off 38 balls, featuring eight fours and five sixes. Marcus Stoinis supported him well with 64 off 39 deliveries, while Arshdeep Singh picked up three wickets for India.

In response, Washington Sundar top-scored with an unbeaten 49 off 23 balls as the visitors won the game by five wickets with nine balls to spare. Despite Australia’s defeat, Tim David drew praise for his explosive knock, with Irfan Pathan lauding the hard-hitting batter in a YouTube video. Pathan said:

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“Look, the way Tim David batted, I think right now if you talk about the top five six-hitters in the world, his name will definitely be included. There is no doubt about that. He even hit Varun for two consecutive sixes when Varun was changing his angle and wickets were also falling, but it didn’t affect him at all.”

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The 41-year-old further pointed out that India missed a key tactic against Tim David by targeting the off-stump line, which he felt wasn’t the right approach. Irfan Pathan explained:

“However, the Indian team missed one thing against him, as a bowler, you first need to see where he is standing. Tim David was standing outside the leg stump, and whenever he stands outside leg stump, it means that his off stump is not actually the off stump, it becomes the width. That’s why, even if you target the middle stump, for him it turns into the off stump, because his bat remains open and he stands slightly toward the leg side, away from the stumps.”

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Tim David has featured in 66 T20Is, scoring 1,582 runs at an average of 36.79 and a strike rate of 169.01, with nine fifties and one hundred to his name.

“Target his leg stump or his pads” - Irfan Pathan comes up with a massive tip for India bowlers

In the same video, Irfan Pathan highlighted that given Tim David’s tendency to bat outside the leg stump, Indian bowlers should target his pads and avoid giving him any room. Irfan Pathan said:

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“So whenever you bowl to him, either target his leg stump or his pads. That will be the right line. Do not give him room. Bowling to him on the stumps, especially the off stump, gives him room, which the Indian bowlers did. If you look at his wagon wheel, around 70 to 80 percent of his runs came on the off side, and there was only one run on the leg side near fine leg."

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“That means the Indian bowlers neither used enough short balls nor targeted his pads. They gave him complete freedom to open up and play his shots. So it’s very important as a bowling unit to first observe where the batter is standing. Even though it didn’t turn out to be a match-winning innings, this analysis is crucial,” he added.

The two teams will face off again in the fourth T20I on Wednesday, November 5, at the Bill Pippen Oval in Gold Coast.

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Edited by Dev Sharma

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