Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has picked India’s bowling attack for the one-off Test match against Afghanistan. Surprisingly, Pathan didn’t pick Kuldeep Yadav in his bowling battery for the upcoming Test match.
Pathan reckons the home team will play Harsh Dubey and Washington Sundar as the two spinners ahead of Yadav. Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Anil Kumble picked Kuldeep Yadav, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj and Harsh Dubey as his four specialist bowlers.
Kumble picked Washington Sundar ahead of Dhruv Jurel to bat number six but Pathan wants to play both to have batting depth in the playing XI.
“Absolutely copy-paste, except on one point, because the Indian team likes to bat till No. 8. That’s how they play. So maybe in place of Kuldeep Yadav, at No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 – Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar,” Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports.
Pathan said India can either back Siraj or Prasidh Krishna, depending on their choice.
“Harsh Dubey coming at No. 9 and then Gurnoor Brar and one of the fast bowlers, either Siraj or Prasidh Krishna, whichever way they want to go,” Pathan observed.
Pathan said India will get a lot of flexibility if Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy bat at number six and seven respectively.
“That focus will be there. When you play against Sri Lanka and other big teams, your experienced players will come. However, if Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Kumar Reddy bat at those numbers, you will get a lot of flexibility. Along with that, they will also get that much experience,” he responded.
The former swing bowler said Jurel and Reddy have the ability to deliver while batting at these batting positions and if they can score consistently, it will give team management a lot of confidence.
“Nitish Kumar Reddy has scored a hundred in Australia. That’s not a small feat. Not many people have gone as a youngster and scored a hundred in Australia. So he has the ability. At the same time, Dhruv Jurel has the ability as well. If he can score runs against Afghanistan, that will give a lot of confidence to the team management,” Pathan observed.
The one-off Test between India and Afghanistan will be played at New Chandigarh from Saturday onwards.
