'He'll Need to Play From the First Game': Irfan Pathan Picks India's Sixth Bowling Option For T20 WC

Former pacer Irfan Pathan feels that India should play Deepak Hooda right from the start in the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. Hooda has been picked in India’s squad for the upcoming mega ICC event. The talented batter has performed well in recent times after making his debut for India this year. He also slammed his maiden T20I hundred this year on the Ireland tour which helped him become a regular in India’s T20I set-up.

Pathan feels that India missed the sixth bowling option during the last year’s WC but this time they have Hooda who can do the job for them.

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“I think Deepak Hooda will need to play from the first game because he is a sixth bowling option, something that you struggled for in the last World Cup. There will be a choice that they have to make between whether they want to play a left-hander in the middle order or Hooda but I feel the latter will have odds in his favour," Pathan told Star Sports.

The former pacer also took to Twitter to congratulate Hooda for the huge turnaround in his career.

“Congratulations to all the players who got selected to play the World Cup for team india. Huge Privilage. What a turn around for @HoodaOnFire this has been. Well done boy," Pathan tweeted.

Pathan also feels that if India will pick Rishabh Pant over Axar Patel if they want to include a left-handed batter in the squad.

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“If you look from the angle of playing a left-handed batter then definitely Pant will play ahead of Axar. Even if you look at the spin options, I feel Ashwin will play along with Chahal," he added.

The 37-year-old further said that Ravichandran Ashwin will be the ideal number 8 for India in the T20 World Cup as he has improved his batting skills in recent times.

“This is because he has improved his batting a lot and also has had an economy rate of under 8 the whole year. He has improved his power-hitting game and with the template of attacking cricket, I think he will be an ideal No. 8," Pathan said.

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