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Irfan Pathan (Source - Twitter)
India’s T20 combination for the upcoming T20 World Cup has been the talk of the town in recent times. As the air around whether the senior pros like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be considered or not is still not clear and it has given fuel to the various speculations regarding the participation of certain players and their relevancy in the modern T20 format.
Given India’s last two mediocre T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 in both UAE and Australia respectively, many cricket experts are of the view that India should go with a young team in the upcoming T20 World Cup, while some people feel that the experience and match-winning abilities of Kohli and Rohit could not be discounted and they should feature in India’s T20 World Cup squad for the US and West Indies.
Irfan Pathan backs Jitesh Sharma over Ishan Kishan
Among all the chatter, the former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan has also given his wicketkeeper pick for the T20 World Cup. The Indian southpaw has picked Jitesh Sharma over Ishan Kishan as his choice for the upcoming World Cup. He believes that Jitesh is better equipped to bat at the middle order than Kishan and can attack from the get-go as he did in the two matches he played against Australia and what he has been doing for Punjab Kings in the IPL in the last two years.
Pathan said that if selectors want to pick Ishan, then they should bat only at the top order and the top order is already jam-packed with the likes of Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Virat Kohli.
Speaking to Star Sports Irfan Pathan said, “I will play Jitesh hands down. I have maintained from earlier that if you have to play Ishan, whether it is ODIs or T20Is, you have to play him at the top, and there is a traffic jam at the top.
It's very difficult for Ishan Kishan to make his place. This is my belief. I don't know at all what the team management thinks but his ability that I have judged for many years, I feel he needs the hard new ball and then he plays spin well.”
He further added, “When you bat in the middle order, you will get spin in front of you, and there you (Kishan) might have difficulties at times. Jitesh Sharma is a slightly creative player. He is a Suryakumar Yadav-mold type player. You will see him playing the lap and different types of shots.”