T20 World Cup 2024: Irfan Pathan suggests three combinations for India playing eleven

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T20 World Cup 2024: As India gears up for the T20 World Cup 2024, Irfan Pathan has suggested three playing eleven combinations Rohit Sharma could try in the marquee ICC event.

The former all-rounder, who won the T20 World Cup with the Men in Blue in 2007, said India could go with six bowlers including Axar Patel to increase their batting depth, or go with four specialist bowlers and hope Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube to chip in with a few overs.

“With the selected team, there can be two combinations. In one combination, you can play with six bowlers, including Axar Patel, to deepen the batting lineup. In the other combination, you can play with four front-line bowlers and expect Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya to bowl," Irfan Pathan told Star Sports.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also gave India a third option, saying that the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube, who have been bowling in the nets, could be tried out to have the desired team combination.

"Another option for Team India is a young player who bowls in the nets but hasn’t bowled in matches, Yashasvi Jaiswal. Shivam Dube also mentioned during the IPL that he has been regularly bowling in the nets, preparing to bowl one or two overs in the World Cup.

Further, Irfan Pathan reckoned that India get 'handicapped' as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli don't bowl at all. However, he said that Hardik Pandya bowling three to four overs would solve India's problem at the T20 World Cup 2024.

"If Hardik can give you the option of bowling three to four overs, this problem will be largely solved. Our other batsmen, like Rohit, Virat, or Suryakumar Yadav, can’t bowl, which makes us somewhat handicapped. Ideally, if any of these players could bowl, it would greatly benefit the team.

"We talk about Australia, but even England has many all-rounders among their top seven players, including Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Will Jacks. It’s always better to have more bowling options, and yes, in this scenario, we are definitely handicapped," Irfan Pathan said.

India have two all-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya - who have the potential to complete their quota of four overs. In this case India will have the option to play just three specialist bowlers in their playing eleven and increase their batting depth.

India squad for T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj. Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh Khan