Irfan Pathan names India’s playing XI for Pakistan encounter

The 20-20 World Cup got underway earlier this week with eight teams fighting it out in Round 1. The Super 12 round will commence on October 23 while India will commence their campaign on the next day with the game against arch-rivals Pakistan. The two teams will be facing each other at the international level for the first time since the 2019 World Cup which was played in England.

There has been a lot of talk around India’s playing XI and with Hardik Pandya still not bowling at all, there are doubts lingering over their perfect combination. Meanwhile, former India cricket Irfan Pathan has given his thoughts on India’s playing XI and despite so much uncertainty, he has gone with Hardik backing him to bat at number six.

Irfan backed KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma to open the innings while the skipper Virat Kohli will bat at three. He continued with Suryakumar Yadav at number four despite the batter not being in the greatest of touches with the bat since the second leg of the Indian Premier League commenced.

Despite being in good form, Irfan Pathan didn’t have any place for Ishan Kishan in the playing XI with Rishabh Pant set to take the gloves behind the wickets and bat at five. Ravindra Jadeja is the only all-rounder in Irfan’s team as of now and interestingly, he went with three pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. Shardul Thakur is another option to pick among pace bowlers in the squad.

Irfan Pathan has opted for mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the team instead of the experienced Ravi Ashwin who did well in both the warm-up matches. The leg-spinner Rahul Chahar is the other option in the 15-man squad.

Here’s Irfan Pathan’s India playing XI for Pakistan clash: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah