‘Should get eight runs’: Irfan Pathan pushes bold T20 rule change ahead of AUS vs IND 4th T20I

Mayank Bande

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‘Should get eight runs’: Irfan Pathan pushes bold T20 rule change ahead of AUS vs IND 4th T20I image

Australia's power-hitter Tim David scored a quick-fire 74(38) against India in the third T20I at Hobart on Sunday, guiding Australia to 186/6 after 20 overs.

During his stay at the crease, he also scored a massive 129m six at 6.5 over mark off Axar Patel's delivery in the slot. He clubbed the ball straight over the bowler's head and hit the hoarding at the roof, which stopped the ball from going out of the stadium.

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Following his exploits in Hobart, the former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has once again started the conversation about rewarding batters with extra runs for 100m+ sixes.

Irfan Pathan calls for a new T20 rule giving eight runs for 100m-plus sixes before the AUS vs IND 4th T20I

In the lead-up to the fourth T20I at the Carrara Oval, Irfan took to his YouTube channel to preview the fixture and backed Kevin Pietersen's notion of giving extra runs for such big sixes.

The former England player had also tweeted about David's six and asked for 12 runs on that shot.

"Abhishek Sharma for India, Suryakumar Yadav scored well in the last game in a slightly different style, but Australia's Tim David — his 129m six off Axar Patel is being talked about so much. Kevin Pietersen has been saying it for years, and I have said it too — if a batter is hitting a 100m+ six, then he should get eight runs instead of six."

Irfan further provided examples like the multiple changes in the new ball rule, introduction of powerplay, 60 over ODIs being reduced to 40 overs, etc. To back his notion, feeling the change is the only constant in the history of this sport.

"Australia has massive boundaries of over 80m, but we have also seen the 60m boundaries — so it is not like there is only one way to run cricket games. We will always see changes and a batter getting 8 or 10 runs will surely happen someday. The earlier it is, the better. Power hitters will be valued much more," he added.

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The Aussie middle-order batter has this reputation of scoring big sixes and accumulating runs at a brisk rate. He was also instrumental in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) title win in 2025 with 187 runs in 9 innings at a strike rate of 185.14.

In the 2025 calendar year, he is Australia's second-highest run-score with 381 runs in 9 innings, averaging 54.42 at a strike rate of 199.47. He has three fifties and a century this year and is only 43 runs behind Mitchell Marsh in their team.

Up next, they will face India in the fourth T20I in Carrara, with the series levelled at 1-1.

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