“There Were a Lot of Questions About His Performance” – Irfan Pathan Names India’s Top Players in ENG vs IND 2025

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has picked captain Shubman Gill as the best performer for India in the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The five-match series ended in a 2-2 draw on Monday, August 4, with India winning the last match by six runs at the Kennington Oval in London.

Many experts and fans wanted Kuldeep Yadav to play as a specialist spinner, but Pathan said the team did not listen to the “outside noise.” Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna were the top performers in the last game as the Shubman Gill-led team pulled off a great six-run win over England to level the series 2-2.

Gill had an outstanding series. He scored 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.40, including four centuries. In a video on his YouTube channel on Wednesday, August 6, Pathan gave Gill 9.5 out of 10 for his performance. He praised Gill for answering his critics and said that the young captain has improved his game a lot.

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Pathan Gives Gill 9.5 Out of 10

“9.5 out of 10 points for Captain Shubman Gill. When this series started, there were a lot of questions about his performance. His average of 35 was often mentioned. But by the end of the series, he pushed his average above 40. He scored more than 700 runs and broke many records. We saw four centuries from him and clear improvement in his batting,” Pathan said.

He added, “The way he improved his defense and managed the game was commendable. And then there is his captaincy. He will definitely get better at that. There is still some room for improvement, but the way he handled both batting and captaincy was praiseworthy.”

Praise for Smart Captaincy in Oval Test

The 40-year-old praised Gill’s leadership on the final day of the Oval Test, highlighting his smart decision to continue with the old ball instead of taking the new one. Pathan said:

“On the final day, I really liked his captaincy. The plan of not bowling too much on the stumps and targeting outside off-stump was impressive. The swing was happening nicely. That bluff with the yorker against Zak Crawley, with the fielder placed outside, was smart. The coordination between the bowler and captain was very good. The decision to keep the old ball instead of taking the new one was also great. So overall, 9.5 out of 10 for Shubman Gill.”

The 25-year-old has now played 37 Tests and scored 2,647 runs at an average of 41.35, with seven fifties and nine centuries.