"I strongly believe in having a wrist spinner in overseas conditions" - Irfan Pathan after India's defeat against SA
Former Team India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has advocated for the inclusion of a wrist spinner in the playing XI while playing overseas.
The comments came after Virat Kohli and Co. went down against Deal Elgar's South Africa by seven wickets at Newlands, Cape Town on Friday. As a result, India's wait for a series win in South Africa continues.
Pathan also highlighted that there is a need for change in the middle-order. Taking to Twitter, Irfan Pathan wrote:
"The Indian middle-order looks like it will change, Should too. But I strongly believe in having a wrist spinner in overseas conditions. Which will have a solid wicket-taking option in any condition."
Indian middle order looks like it will change, Should too. But I strongly believe in having a wrist spinner in overseas condition. Which will have a solid wicket taking option in any condition.
The last time the side fielded a wrist spinner was when they played Kuldeep Yadav against England in Chennai last year. Since then, Yadav's stocks have gone down as Kohli & Co. relied on the spin bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Yadav only played one Test last year, returning with figures of 2/41. Overall, Kuldeep has seven Tests under his belt, picking up 26 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls.
"Having collapses every now and then is not a good thing" - Virat Kohli on the team's batting display
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Skipper Virat Kohli highlighted the need to arrest batting collapses that have hurt his side in the recent past. Speaking at the end of the 3rd Test in Cape Town, Kohli said:
"They applied pressure long enough for us to make mistakes. It's the understanding of conditions for them which they know very well. The batting has to be looked into, there's no running away from that. Having collapses every now and then is not a good thing."
India are likely to make a couple of changes in their batting order for the upcoming home Test series against Sri Lanka. Underfire batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are likely to be left out in favor of youngsters Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer.