Delhi: Former Team India all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes that the Indian selectors should choose Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi before Yuzvendra Chahal of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their team for the T20 World Cup 2024. Irfan also said that India should select five specialist bowlers and two wrist spinners. The upcoming T20 World Cup will be held in West Indies and United States of America (USA) from June 2. All boards have to announce their teams for major events by May 1.

39-year-old Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports, “You need five good bowlers, it is very important. What are your wicket-taking options? When you are talking about Ravindra Jadeja at No. 8 and playing as a spin (all-rounder), I would prefer to play two wrist spinners.”

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He further said, “I would love to have two proper wrist spinners, (Ravi) Bishnoi and Kuldeep (Yadav) in my playing eleven. If you look at Bishnoi's statistics, you know, when he played, he was very good. Yes, we are talking about Chahal right now because of his IPL performances, but let's not forget the fielding part of it too. If you have to balance fielding, you have to balance where a bowler can bowl in a particular area.”

Only Bumrah is sure for selection – Irfan

Pathan admitted that among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah is the only sure selection, “There is only one player about whom you can blindly say (sure for selection) that he is Bumrah. But apart from Bumrah, you need at least two fast bowlers who can be a part of the regular eleven.”

The former fast bowler further said, “With Bumrah, you can see (Mohammed) Siraj and Arshdeep (Singh) there, which I don't think is ideal, but now that is the only option you have.”

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