T20 World Cup 2021: Irfan Pathan picks his India XI for Pakistan tie; no place for Ravichandran Ashwin
Hardik Pandya retains his place in Irfan Pathan's team.
Team India will begin their ICC T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 24 (Sunday) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Ahead of the high-voltage clash, former all-rounder, Irfan Pathan has picked his playing XI for the Men in Blues.
Virat Kohli & Co had a good run in the warm-up games with everyone in the squad staking a claim for a place in the playing XI. The management will have a good headache when they sit to pick the playing XI for the all-important game.
Putting his hat in the mud during a chat of Star Sports, Irfan Pathan picked Varun Chakravarthy as the sole spinner in the side while Ravindra Jadeja was the all-rounder. The former cricketer left-out veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who showed spark in the second warm-up match against Australia. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar completed Pathan’s bowling attack.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets the nod ahead of Shardul Thakur
On the batting front, Irfan Pathan went with Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul as his first-choice openers. Both of them have been in superlative form off-late and will be crucial to India’s plan of lifting their second T20 title. Virat Kohli, who will be leading India for the last time in T20Is, slotted at one drop in Pathan’s playing XI against Babar Azam & Co.
Pathan went with Suryakumar Yadav for the No.4 spot ahead of Ishan Kishan while Rishabh Pant will bat at 5. Hardik Pandya, who is yet to resume bowling, also made the cut and will bat at 6.
India will look to continue their dominating run against Pakistan and start the T20 World Cup on a high.
Irfan Pathan India’s Playing XI for Pakistan clash: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
