Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan reckons India needs to combine experience and youth for the T20 World Cup 2023. It has been reported that selectors want Rohit Sharma to lead in the T20 World Cup but he last played in the shortest format of the game back in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Furthermore, Virat Kohli also last played in T20Is in the semifinal of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, young players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi, and Mukesh Kumar are rising through the ranks in T20Is and all of them have made a case for themselves.
“I feel Indian team should combine experience and youth. When we won the last T20 World Cup, in 2007, many said it was a young and inexperienced team that won the title, but that wasn’t it. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had been playing for a while then.”
“Me and Dhoni were also part of team for almost four years. There was also Ajit Agarkar, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh as well. So you have to combine experience with youth especially for those conditions where batting gets a bit tricky,” said Pathan on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, Irfan Pathan was awarded Player of the Match in the final against Pakistan in the 2007 T20 World Cup as he returned with impressive figures of 3/16 in his quota of four overs.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that India has a lot of talent and it will be about executing their plans in big matches. India dominated the ODI World Cup as they bested all nine teams but could not get over the line in the all-important final clash against Australia.
The young players will look to grab their opportunities with both hands on the upcoming tour of South Africa whereas the senior players will also aim to deliver for the team.
India will now tour South Africa for three T20Is, as many ODIs, and two Test matches.
