Former Indian All-rounder Irfan Pathan said, Yuzvendra Chahal may not make it into the World Cup squad. According to Pathan, he would pick two wrist spinners but Yuzvendra Chahal would not be one of them. Yuzvendra Chahal is yet to make his debut for India in a T20 World Cup which in itself is shocking when you look at his T20 numbers.
Yuzvendra Chahal has played 80 Internationals for Team India picking up 96 wickets with an average of 26.09. Yuzvendra Chahal’s T20I numbers are decent enough. He made his IPL debut in 2013 and after that he has been is one of the most successful bowlers in the Indian Premier League. Yuzvendra Chahal has played 154 matches picking up 200 wickets which is the most by any player with an economy of just 7.75.
ICC World T20 World Cup is just around the corner and every country has its eye on the IPL and its players in the IPL. The league is the perfect practice for a player to gain confidence in their execution.
In order to compete in the forthcoming T20 World Cup, which will be held in the Caribbean and the USA, India needs to select two wrist spinners and five specialist bowlers, according to former all-rounder Irfan Pathan.
Yuzvendra Chahal will not feature- Irfan Pathan
Talks about the composition of India’s squad for the main event, which takes place on June 2, have heated up as the May 1 deadline for the squad announcement draws near.
“You need five good bowlers — that’s a must. What are your wicket-taking options? When you’re talking about Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8 and playing as a spin (all-rounder), I would rather have two wrist-spinners playing,” Pathan told Star Sports.
“I would rather have two proper wrist-spinners playing, (Ravi) Bishnoi and Kuldeep (Yadav), in my playing XI. If you look at Bishnoi’s numbers, you know, when he played, he was pretty good,”
But Irfan Pathan is not willing to call up Yuzvendra Chahal of the Rajasthan Royals for the World Cup.
Bumrah is an automatic selection- Irfan Pathan
Pathan conceded that Jasprit Bumrah is the only automatic selection among the bowlers.
“There’s only one player who you can blindly say is Bumrah. But apart from Bumrah, you need at least two fast bowlers who can be part of the regular XI,” the former India cricketer said.
“The biggest problem the Indian team has is the combination of fast bowling. It’s very important to fix that combination, so go towards experience.
“With Bumrah, you can see Siraj and Arshdeep there, which I don’t think is ideal, but this is the only option you have now,” he said.
Former India batter K Srikkanth, meanwhile, is not in favour of Siraj being selected for the World Cup.
“Bumrah is in the squad. Arshdeep as well. But the third pacer can’t be Siraj. He’ll bowl well in one game and then not perform in 10 games. He’s an erratic bowler, you saw it in the World Cup,” he said.
“That’s why I’m saying we should look at who’s bowling well in the death overs, and that is Avesh Khan. He’s been performing well and he’s done well on the international front, he has a little experience as well. He’s mastered the wide yorkers also,” Srikkanth added.
However, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody backed Siraj. “He looks mentally and physically fatigued. He has come into this IPL having played a lot of all format cricket for India for a long period of time,” he said.
“He plays his cricket in the IPL at probably the hardest venue whether you bowl quick or you bowl spin — that needs to be taken into consideration. The third thing is he’s playing in a poor side. RCB have been a poor side this year and it’s very hard to rise with what’s happening around you.”
“I would back him 100 per cent to step up in the World Cup, purely because if you look at historically what he’s done for India and even what he did in the IPL last year,” Moody added.
Meanwhile it will be interesting to see whether these players would make it in the finals squad.