Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan recently justified his criticism over Virat Kohli’s poor form during the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. The cricketer-turned-analyst pointed out that the 36-year-old continued his slump for five years when he made the comments against him.The 40-year-old explained how Kohli continued to get dismissed similarly over the five-match series in Australia, getting caught behind the wicket in the slip cordon or by the wicketkeeper. He stressed that the team should always be the top priority, regardless of the players’ stature.Speaking to The Lallantop, Irfan Pathan said:“47:35 – If you look at my social media, there was Virat Kohli’s slump in 2019-20. At that time, it was said that it was the time of COVID, and he wasn’t getting inspiration. I thought that when a player of big stature undergoes their first slump, then they should be backed. If you look at my social media, I backed him a lot. One, he deserved it, and won a lot of matches. If the slump continues for five years, then it’s not right.”“Eventually, the team has to be at the top. Team is No. 1; we play for the team, we play to win games. If a batsman gets out in a similar manner, the opposition team plans accordingly. They won’t go to plan B. They will get you out using plan A. If you’re a champion player, then you’ve to take them from plan A to plan B. The problem with Virat in Test cricket was that he was getting out similarly every now and then. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad player; he’s a champion player, but it’s happening. You’ve to explain what you are seeing in detail,” he added.On getting axed for commentary by official broadcasters, Pathan said that he followed the protocols - speak in the larger interest of the fans. He continued:“45:44 – See, I believe that as a broadcaster, when the commentary is going on and the fans are watching the match, you have to go ahead of the visuals and speak about what’s happening. The broadcaster and commentator’s work is - what is happening and why it is happening. What can happen and how? If a player is doing exceptionally well, you praise him, and if they are not performing well, then criticize him. The commentators’ responsibility is towards the fans, not players.”Virat Kohli got out caught behind on eight out of nine occasions during the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The right-hander managed 190 runs in nine innings despite a century in the series opener at Perth. India lost the Test series 1-3.“People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary” – Irfan Pathan on interaction with India captain during 2024/25 BGTIrfan Pathan further explained that he was critical of India captain Rohit Sharma following his lean patch in Tests during the 2024/25 BGT. He added that his behaviour with the senior batter was taken out of proportion by the fans. The Indian all-rounder told The Lallantop (via NDTV):“People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary. Of course, when someone comes to interview on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with them, right? You have invited him, so you will behave politely. When Rohit came to interview, we were, of course, polite, and we had to show that, because he was our guest. So that was connected and said we were supporting him, but it was we who said...we had said that he should keep fighting, but that said, he should not have had a place in the playing XI. If he was not the captain of the team, he would have been dropped.”“Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true,” he added.Rohit Sharma had a forgetful Test series in Australia, managing 31 runs in six innings. The 38-year-old announced his retirement from the longest format during IPL 2025. Following his retirement, Shubman Gill was appointed as India's new Test skipper ahead of the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.