Irfan Pathan picks his India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024

Former India all-rounder and current commentator, Irfan Pathan has picked his India squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Pathan spoke about the young talents who could be the vital cogs in the wheel for India in the marquee international tournament. During an exclusive chat with ESPNCricinfo, Pathan revealed his choice of 15 players in India's squad for the T20 World Cup.

The former pace-bowling all-rounder also feels that the men in blue will look incomplete without having a senior batter like Virat Kohli, the modern-day batting great. He also reckoned that the Indian batting will mostly revolve around the skipper Rohit Sharma.

“Kohli is vital in a big tournament and debunks a few myths about his strike rate,” said Pathan to ESPNCricinfo.

Irfan Pathan advocates for the presence of seniors in the batting lineup

In the batting department of the squad, Pathan picked the veterans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, alongside the youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rinku Singh, including the star striker Suryakumar Yadav.

The 2007 T20 World Cup-winning all-rounder picked three wicketkeepers in his squad, including the likes of Jitesh Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul. He opted to go ahead with two all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.

Speaking of the bowling section, Pathan tried to maintain a balance between the spin and pace; Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi were his picks in the spin department while Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and one pick from Mohsin Khan and Arshdeep Singh.

Here’s a look at India’s T20 World Cup squad picked by Irfan Pathan:

Batters – Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rinku Singh. 

All-Rounders – Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja

Wicketkeepers – Jitesh Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul

Spinners - Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi

Pacers – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohsin Khan/Arshdeep Singh