Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has questioned Hardik Pandya’s death bowling capabilities following India’s Asia Cup 2024 opener against UAE. The Baroda all-rounder, who has gone on to become India’s second leading pacer in T20Is, was paired alongside Jasprit Bumrah while India’s leading T20I wicket-taker Arshdeep Singh was benched. Pathan opined that India would surely miss the services of Arshdeep, adding that his ability to bowl yorkers was something that Hardik can’t do.
Arshdeep > Hardik in death overs: Pathan
In a video on his YouTube channel, Pathan opined that Arshdeep could nail six yorkers in a death over while Hardik couldn’t probably do the same. Interestingly, the former India T20I captain bowled just one over – the very first over – in the contest against UAE, conceding 10 runs while going wicketless.
“Is Hardik’s strength a yorker? Can he bowl six yorkers in an over? His strength is mainly bowling into the pitch, bouncer, and bowling hard length. And if the game is stuck in that situation, what will be the way out? It will be great to see. Obviously, if you are playing on a big ground, you can still use bouncers; however, if we talk about a yorker, then you will miss Arshdeep. We saw him in the T20 World Cup, in IPL, and in other T20Is, showing that he can execute six yorkers in an over to perfection,” Pathan said.
Irfan further noted that Arshdeep was India’s best bowler in T20Is. He said that in a knockout situation, the Punjab pacer will surely bowl from one end while Bumrah bowls from the other. Many former cricketers were surprised by Arshdeep’s exclusion from the playing XI and India’s decision to include Bumrah in the XI instead of the southpaw.
“Understandably, he didn’t play in England, but not playing here raises a scenario in my mind that when there will be a knock-out situation, Bumrah will bowl from one end, and definitely he will, cause he is the best bowler we have,” Pathan added.
