ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Irfan Pathan Backs Virat Kohli To Bat At No. 3 For India

India announced its ICC T20 World Cup 2022 squad earlier on Monday. However, the air of ambiguity surrounding former India skipper Virat Kohli‘s batting position still remains up for debate.

Echoing his thoughts on the same, Irfan Pathan had a slightly different outlook on who should start in the playing XI for the Indian Team ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup, choosing to keep Dinesh Karthik as the lone keeper instead of Rishabh Pant.

Irfan Pathan urges for young pacer Arshdeep Singh to be incorporated into India’s plans

“See, in my opinion, if you’re playing the first match, you need to have some experienced bowlers including one spinner. So, from the top, my playing 11 would be – Rohit, KL Rahul, number three – Virat (Kohli), number four – Suryakumar Yadav, number five – Deepak Hooda, number six – Hardik Pandya, number seven – Dinesh Karthik.”

He added that he wants to make space for young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh to be included sometime in the tournament. “Number eight will be a right arm leg spinner so it would be (Yuzvendra) Chahal, 9 to 11, here there will be Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel and along with that you can go for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.”

Irfan Pathan opines India should have three quality pacers in the lineup

Ahead of their Super 12 opener against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground, India is scheduled to play warm-up matches against Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 respectively at The Gabba, Brisbane.

Pathan concluded by saying, “So, there will be a combination here, three fast bowlers out of which two are quality fast bowlers, who will be able to bowl at the death as well. And I will make sure that I have the combination and the liberty to choose from the three fast bowlers, even Arshdeep (Singh) to handle the death bowling So, in my opinion, in the playing 11, the spinner is clear, it’s just whether I can make space for Arshdeep in the team.”

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