Discarded India international, Irfan Pathan, in a recent interaction, named his playing XI for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
RCB’s marquee player Virat Kohli could not find a place for himself in the opening slot. Interestingly, the best wicket-keeper batsman in the world currently, Quinton de Kock, could not find a spot in the lineup.
Pathan, instead, opted for the services of Parthiv Patel at the opening slot, as he feels the two are similar in terms of their game.
“It’s very interesting as people might ask why not Virat opening the batting. They have to go for Brendon McCullum as an opener. He should open. The other opener would be an option between Quinton de Kock and Parthiv Patel,” blogged Irfan Pathan at Espncricinfo.com
“My pick would be Indian wicketkeeper rather than be going for Quinton de Kock as an overseas player. As both the players are similar, Parthiv would do the same job as de Kock,” added Pathan who had no takers in the IPL.
However, looking at the current squad of RCB, Pathan feels Virat Kohli should be batting at number three, as Parthiv Patel and Brendon McCullum cannot bat anywhere else.
“So, McCullum and Parthiv should open the batting. Virat will come at number 3 because Parthiv can’t bat anywhere else,” suggested the southpaw.
Following the batting heavy top order, the modern master of the game, AB de Villiers bats at number four in the lineup.
The likes of Mandeep Singh and Sarfraz Khan provide the final flourish. Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme will handle the all-round department.
According to Pathan, the pace battery will boast the likes of Mohd. Siraj and Umesh Yadav, while Yuzvendra Chahal handles the spin department.
Here’s Irfan Pathan’s lineup for RCB this season
Brendon McCullum
Parthiv Patel
Virat Kohli (c)
AB de Villiers
Mandeep Singh
Sarfaraz Khan
Colin de Grandhomme
Chris Woakes
Yuzvendra Chahal
Umesh Yadav
Mohammed Siraj
RCB full squad
Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Quinton De Kock, Mohammed Siraj, Corey Anderson, Colin De Grandhomme, M. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Pavan Deshpande, Anirudha Ashok Joshi
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