Irfan Pathan Made A Big Statement Ahead Of ICC T20 World Cup: India started off their Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a winning note by defeating Pakistan in a nail-biter on Sunday in Dubai. Hardik Pandya continued on his rise in white-ball cricket emerge as the Man of the Match.
Pandya first took 3 wickets with the ball – including those of the well-set batters, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikar Ahmed. The Baroda all-rounder then shone brightly with the bat, clattering 33* runs in 17 balls to take India home in the chase of 148 with 2 balls to spare.
Can India drop Virat Kohli, KL Rahul for T20 WC?
However, KL Rahul and to an extent Virat Kohli continues to be a cause of worry for Team India.
Rahul, who had made scores of 1 and 30 in Zimbabwe ODI after returning to cricket after two years, was dismissed by pacer Naseem Shah for a first-ball duck, chopping onto his stumps.
Virat Kohli also could have gone for a duck, after he edged Naseem Shah to second slip, where, however, Fakhar Zaman dropped the catch. After that Kohli still looked scratchy, inside and top-edging the pacers, but also got boundaries to get going.
Kohli looked decent in the powerplay but then his usual frailties were exposed as Shahab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz, the two spinners who turn the ball away from Kohli, tied the batter down and didn’t give him any boundary. Kohli laboured at the strike rate of 102, scoring 35 runs in 34 balls.
You can’t leave it for too late: Irfan Pathan on Kohli, Rahul
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan was stern in his assessment of the two batters. Pathan pointed out that both Kohli and KL Rahul are looking for form coming into the Asia Cup.
However, Pathan reckoned India shouldn’t leave big decisions for too late. The commentator opined that if Kohli and Rahul continue to remain out of form, the management should drop them for the T20 World Cup which is less than two months away, especially given there are some good, in-form players on the bench, such as Deepak Hooda and Sanju Samson.
“Virat and Rahul are trying to find form, but if they fail, the management will have to look at other players who can do the job for the team. You can’t leave it too late as the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia is not about finding your form,” Irfan Pathan was quoted as saying by crictoday.com.
India will take on Hong Kong on Wednesday in Dubai. This game offers a great opportunity for Rahul and Kohli to find form.
