Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has strongly criticized Yashasvi Jaiswal after Rajasthan Royals suffered a humiliating defeat against Gujarat Titans in the recent IPL 2024 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, May 9.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s first match as captain for Rajasthan Royals turned into a nightmare. Notably, RR’s regular captain Riyan Parag had to sit out due to a hamstring injury. Sadly, it was a forgettable evening for both Jaiswal and the Royals in Jaipur.
Chasing a huge target of 230 runs, Rajasthan Royals were completely defeated by Gujarat Titans. The RR batsmen failed to handle the GT attack, and they eventually lost the match by 77 runs, and Yashasvi Jaiswal himself could only score three runs in four balls before being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada.
Irfan Pathan questions Yashasvi Jaiswal’s on-field coordination during RR vs GT IPL 2026 clash
After GT pushed RR to fifth place in the IPL 2026 points table, Irfan Pathan openly questioned Rajasthan Royals’ on-field coordination and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s leadership during the match. He was angry over an incident involving spinner Yashraj Punja and Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill.
Also read: Mohammed Siraj escapes BCCI punishment after giving a fond farewell to Vaibhav Suryavanshi – Know why
Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel, “Another thing that I did not understand was that when Yashasvi Jaiswal came as the captain for the toss, the coordination on the field was completely missing.”
During the last ball of the 13th over, the umpire called a ball wide even though it looked very close to the line and the ball was not seen to be wide. This led Pathan to doubt the teamwork and communication between Yashasvi and Dhruv Jurel.
Pathan is shocked by the wide ball incident
He said Jurel, who was keeping wicket, caught the ball but immediately threw it back to the bowler without talking to the captain or discussing whether the umpire’s decision should be reviewed.
Pathan believes that as a wicketkeeper, Jurel should have had a better idea of whether the ball was actually wide or not as he was standing closest to the ball.
This lack of communication shocked Pathan. He said, “There was no discussion with the captain and the captain also did not talk to him. It was confusing.”
Pathan says lack of communication hurts Rajasthan Royals
The situation became worse on the very next ball when Gill took advantage of the opportunity and scored four runs with a reverse sweep.
Replays later showed that the previous delivery was not actually wide, and hence Pathan felt there should have been at least communication.
Also read: ‘Rohit Sharma will not accept the offer to become the captain of Mumbai Indians again’
The former World Cup winner further said, “There should be coordination. There should be some checking between the players. The lack of coordination does not make sense at all. RR will need to seriously look at this going forward.”
Irfan Pathan left stunned after Jofra Archer’s nightmare against Gujarat Titans
The former cricketer was also disappointed with Jofra Archer, who had a rare day with the ball. Archer gave away 46 runs in his three overs against the Titans and RR never recovered from a poor start in Jaipur.
Pathan said, “I have never been so disappointed watching a Rajasthan Royals match. That no-ball by Jofra Archer and his bowling in the first over, where he gave away 17 runs. This is the same bowler who is taking wickets with the very first ball of the innings.”
You might remember that bouncer Phil Salt. He has troubled the batsmen from the very first over and has dismissed them consistently this season. But here he gave 17 runs in the first over and then 16 runs in the second over. I was not understanding the strategy at all in the powerplay.”
