“India’s balance changes” - Irfan Pathan opens up on India’s biggest challenge in T20Is vs Australia

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has emphasized that the Indian team might not have a proper balance in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Australia Down Under due to the absence of all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, Pathan reckoned that he is not completely sure about India’s new ball bowling attack in Pandya’s absence. For the unversed, Hardik shared the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah in the successful Asia Cup 2025 competition. 

“The other challenge is team combination. With Hardik Pandya injured, India’s balance changes. Who bowls the new ball now? In the Asia Cup final, Shivam Dube opened the bowling — will that continue?” Irfan Pathan asked on his YouTube channel.

“In Australia, three fast bowlers are a must. You don’t need three spinners there like in Dubai. I’d go with three pacers and one spinner,” he added.

Additionally, Pathan went on to pick Team India’s playing XI, which has good depth on the batting front till No. 8 and a solid bowling attack. However, he didn’t pick Kuldeep Yadav and disclosed the reason behind his decision. 

“If we do that, here’s my playing XI prediction: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy,” he said.

“This gives the team good batting depth till No. 8 and a solid bowling attack. It’s a tough call between Kuldeep and Varun. Personally, I’d pick Varun for the extra mystery factor, especially if India wants a spinner who can bowl during the powerplay. But if the team goes with Kuldeep, that’s fine too,” he concluded.

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