ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Irfan Pathan Says Deepak Hooda Will be Sixth Bowler for India 

ICC T20 World Cup 2022: The BCCI has announced the 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup which is starting from October 16 in Australia and Deepak Hooda has also been included in it. The T20 World Cup will begin on October 16 and the final match will take place on November 13 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as well.

And, former fast bowler Irfan Pathan said that India should play Deepak Hooda from the beginning of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. He has also done well in recent times after making his debut for Team India this year as well. He also scored his first T20 hundred during India’s tour to Ireland this year, which helped him cement a regular spot in the Indian T20I lineup as well. And, now, Irfan Pathan feels that Hooda could be useful as a sixth bowler, which the team evidently missed in the last year’s mega event.

“I think Deepak Hooda will need to play from the first game because he is a sixth bowling option, something that you struggled for in the last World Cup. There will be a choice that they have to make between whether they want to play a left-hander in the middle order or Hooda, but I feel the latter will have odds in his favour,” Pathan told Star Sports.

“Congratulations to all the players who got selected to play the World Cup for team india. Huge Privilage. What a turn around for @HoodaOnFire this has been. Well done boy,” Irfan Pathan tweeted.

Irfan Pathan also shared that India may start the T20 World Cup with the experienced spin duo Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin as well. Apart from them, they will have Axar Patel in the squad and Pathan believes that they will depend more on Rishabh Pant as a left-hander who can bat in the middle overs also.

“If you look from the angle of playing a left-handed batter then definitely Pant will play ahead of Axar. Even if you look at the spin options, I feel Ashwin will play along with Chahal. This is because he has improved his batting a lot and also has had an economy rate of under 8 the whole year. He has improved his power-hitting game and with the template of attacking cricket, I think he will be an ideal No. 8,” Irfan Pathan praised R Ashwin’s improvements as an all-rounder as well.

However, Team India will start their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.