Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan was among the few experts who backed the idea of a left-right combination at the top of the batting order in the playing XI for the T20 World Cup, thus picking Yashasvi Jaiswal as captain Rohit Sharma's opening partner. Pathan even went the distance to claim that unlike any other top-order batter, “which leaves India handicapped,” Jaiswal can also come in handy with one or two overs as a part-time spin-bowling option. However, Pathan went back on his words to drop Jaiswal while picking the possible playing XI for the T20 World Cup match against Ireland.

Another option for Team India is a young player who bowls in the nets but hasn’t bowled in matches, Yashasvi Jaiswal," Pathan told Star Sports while discussing the possible bowling combinations for Team India. "Our other batsmen, like Rohit, Virat, or Suryakumar Yadav, can’t bowl, which makes us somewhat handicapped. Ideally, if any of these players could bowl, it would greatly benefit the team."

However, Pathan did not pick the left-handed batter in his preferred India XI for the match against Ireland based on the conclusions he drew from the warm-up game against Bangladesh on Saturday in New York. Jaiswal did not bat for India in that game as Rohit opened alongside Sanju Samson despite Virat Kohli's absence.

The former T20 World Cup winner instead went with the tide in picking Kohli as Rohit's opening partner before handing Rishabh Pant the role of a No. 3 batter. The wicketkeeper smashed a fiery 53 off 32 balls against Bangladesh which sparked the possibility of a fresh line-up for India. Pathan then added Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, followed by Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in order.

In the bowling department, he added Kuldeep Yadav as the lone specialist bowler, followed by Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj. Pathan reckoned that the line-up will change when the Indian caravan moves to the Caribbeans for the knockout stage with one the pacers to make way for Axar Patel.

India will play against Ireland in their Group A opener on June 5 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, followed by a mouth-watering clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 9.

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