T20 World Cup 2024: Irfan Pathan’s advice for team India after dropping Yashasvi Jaiswal

Summary: Considering what the T20 World Cup warm-up game against Bangladesh may have shown, Irfan Pathan opposed dropping Yashasvi Jaiswal from the India XI.

While India's captain Rohit Sharma denied narrowing down the team's playing XI for the 2024 T20 World Cup, the warm-up match against Bangladesh on Saturday indicated that Yashasvi Jaiswal will not be included in the line-up for the campaign opener against Ireland in New York on June 5. 

Despite all the talk about the need for a left-right combination at the top of the batting order, Jaiswal was replaced by Sanju Samson in the match against Bangladesh, confirming that Virat Kohli, who missed the game due to his late arrival in New York, will open with Rohit in the ICC tournament.

Speaking to Star Sports, Pathan emphasized a key justification for keeping Jaiswal in the starting lineup after sparking a debate that had been one of the main topics of conversation leading up to the 2023 ODI World Cup and following India's defeat against Australia in the championship match. 

The former T20 World Cup champion pleaded with head coach Rahul Dravid in a message that Jaiswal, who has been a consistent bowler in the nets for India and his IPL team, the Rajasthan Royals, should be selected with Shivam Dube because India does not have enough bowling options available.

Irfan Pathan advised that to improve their batting depth, India could use six bowlers, including Axar Patel, or four specialist bowlers and hope that Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube would pitch in with a few overs.

Young bowler Yashasvi Jaiswal, who hasn't bowled in a game but bowls in the nets, is another alternative for Team India. Shivam Dube also stated during the IPL that he has been consistently bowling in the nets to get ready to deliver one or two overs in the World Cup.

Irfan Pathan also thinks that India is handicapped as players like Kohli, Rohit, and Suryakumar Yadav can’t bowl. But if Hardik Pandya bowls 3 to 4 overs for India, it would solve Team India’s major problem. 

"If Hardik gives you the choice of bowling three or four overs, this problem will be largely solved. Our other batsmen, including Rohit, Virat, and Suryakumar Yadav, are unable to bowl, leaving us considerably handicapped. Ideally, if any of these individuals could bowl, it would greatly help the squad. 

"We talk about Australia, but England's top seven players include many all-rounders such as Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Will Jacks. It's always preferable to have more bowling options, and in this case, we are handicapped," said Irfan Pathan.