"They left it too much for too late in the end": Irfan Pathan on India's loss to England in third T20I

New Delhi [India], January 29 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan highlighted the reason behind his team's loss in the third T20I of the five-match series against England at the Nirajan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday.

England defeated India by 26 runs in the third T20I to keep the five-match series alive, making the scoreline 2-1. England set a target of 172 runs, which India could not chase down despite early fireworks from Abhishek Sharma.

"In the T20 format ability to rotate the strike is very important on slightly slower wicket. India left it too much for too late in the end," Irfan Pathan wrote in a post on X.

Recapping the third T20I of the five-match series, Men in Blue skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first in the encounter.

Opener Ben Duckett made a vital half-century before he was caught by Abhishek Sharma off the bowling of Hardik Pandya, having put on a good stand with Buttler to put England on a firm footing at 83/2.

The England middle order, however, was unable to negotiate with Varun Charkravarthy, who sliced through them, taking 5-24. That left England on 127/8, requiring Liam Livingstone to make a valiant 43 from 24 balls, with solid final-wicket support from Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, both of whom made 10.

England finished on 171/9, which looked like it might be slightly under par, but their bowlers flew out of the traps, taking wickets regularly with none of the India top-four making it past 24 runs.

Pandya impressed with the bat, making 40 off 35, and putting on a 38-run partnership with Axar Patel.

But after Buttler caught Pandya off Jamie Overton's bowling in the 19th over, there was simply too much for the tail to do, ending the innings 26 runs short.

India lead the five-match series 2-1 heading into the fourth T20I in Pune on Friday, January 31. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)