New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Former India left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan believes a five-pronged bowling attack featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, along with all-rounders Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Abhishek Sharma could make for an ideal look in the Men’s T20 Asia Cup, set to happen in the UAE from September 9-28.
India will play its Group A games against UAE and the high-stakes clash against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on September 10 and 14 respectively. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side will also face Oman at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi on September 19.
“In my mind, it will be Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, then two all-rounders in Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya, which makes it five bowling options plus Abhishek Sharma. According to me, Bumrah is definitely there, then Chakaravarthy is 100 percent because his record is amazing. Arshdeep is fantastic and has been our number one bowler in T20Is.”
“We have two excellent all-rounders in Axar and Hardik – both of who can play in top seven. While Axar works as a floater, Hardik works as a finisher. Obviously, on a particular day, things change. But when you have two all-rounders who do good batting and can give you four overs of bowling in a game, then you can run the game and field the combinations according to your needs.”
“There is no impact player rule, as it is only in the IPL. So here you have all-rounders and then one more good thing for the Indian team is that Abhishek Sharma does some bowling. So you have one more batter who can give you 1-2 overs of bowling if the ball is gripping a little,” said Pathan to IANS, in a virtual group interaction organized by Sony Sports Network, the official broadcasters of the 2025 Asia Cup.
Though the squad gives a strong look, India still need to settle on the number eight slot in the playing eleven. Pathan suggested that seam-bowling all-rounder Shivam Dube could be an option for that slot, with him, Hardik, Axar and Abhishek sharing the bowling workload. He added that India could also consider fast bowler Harshit Rana, who brings in the ability to clear the ropes, or go in with a specialist wrist-spinner in Kuldeep Yadav.
“Now the question of who comes at number eight is very easy. Here, it is also possible that at number eight, your batting line-up becomes so long that Shivam Dube can also come and stand there. It is not necessary that he plays at number eight and you can change that. He can come in the middle and plays against spinners well.”
“With that, you can do up and down with Axar and Hardik batting positions because you have so many batters now who can bowl in a game. If you want him number eight position, that’s great. But if you don’t want it, you can look at having Kuldeep Yadav. Also, you have another fast bowling option in Harshit Rana.”
Pathan further said India’s bowling combination for the Asia Cup will also be dictated by the dry conditions in Dubai, which gets heavy due in evening games and Abu Dhabi. “Now, which way does the Indian team go to? Which pitches do you get? I hope you get dry pitches because the weather will be very hot. We are talking about UAE, so spin can also come in the game.”
“Only thing is when dew comes, you have to keep in mind that your fast bowlers should be ready because you will need at least three of them, including Hardik. There are a lot of options and so right now, which plan will the Indian team go to, that will be the one to watch out for.”
While the focus is firmly on the bowlers in Asia Cup squad, Pathan was of the firm opinion that Mohammed Siraj, who is not included for the upcoming competition and Prasidh Krishna, currently in the stand-by players list despite being IPL 2025’s leading-wicket taker, will get opportunities to play T20Is in the lead-up to the 2026 Men’s World Cup.
“Yes, absolutely, they can get opportunities. You’re talking about a total of 20 matches from now till the World Cup, so there are a lot of games coming up. In that time period, there will be lot of ups and downs in terms of performances to injury to management. I don’t think the way Siraj’s Test matches went in England, he’ll stay very far away from contention.”
“I also don’t think Prasidh Krishna will stay very far away because his last IPL was amazing and he just missed out on being here. There are guys like Yashasvi Jaiswal and a fantastic cricketer like Shreyas Iyer, who missed out as well.”
“There are many matches to go and each and every name I took will get an opportunity. But most of the guys will get an opportunity because according to me 20 matches are huge numbers,” he concluded.
Watch the highly anticipated 2025 Asia Cup from September 9 on Sony Sports Ten 1, Ten 5, Ten 3 Hindi, Ten 4 Tamil & Ten 4 Telugu channels, and SonyLIV.
–IANS
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