File photo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.© BCCI
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has urged the Ajit Agarkar-led National Selection Committee to pick five bowlers for the T20 World Cup, including two quality wrist spinners. In the spin department, notable contenders include Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal. While both Jadeja and Axar are proven performers with the bat, Irfan feels he prefers to play an extra wrist-spinner. In a recent interaction, Irfan dismissed Chahal in the wrist spinners race and went with Kuldeep and Bishnoi instead.
“You need five good bowlers, that's a must. What are your options for taking wickets? If you talk about Ravindra Jadeja at number 8 and playing as a spin (all-rounder), I would prefer two wrist spinners. I have prefer to have two real wrist spinners, (Ravi) Bishnoi and Kuldeep (Yadav), in my XI game. If you look at Bishnoi's numbers, you know, when he played, he was quite good,” Irfan said during a. interaction on Star Sports.
On the decision to snub Chahal, Pathan said, “Yes, we are talking about Chahal now because of the IPL performance, but don't forget the fielding part of it as well.”
Irfan also expressed concern over the overall bowling department and said that apart from star player Jasprit Bumrah, no other player can be trusted blindly.
“There is only one player who you can blindly say (especially for the selection) is Bumrah. But besides Bumrah, you need at least two fast bowlers who can be part of the regular XI. The biggest problem the Indian team has is is the combination of fast bowling It is very important to improve that combination, so move towards experience,” he added.
The deadline for submitting the squad is May 1 and it has been reported that India captain Rohit Sharma will meet the squad in the coming days to discuss the selection.
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