'I think we have covered all the bases' - Parthiv Patel on India’s Test squad for WTC final

After the postponement of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Team India will soon resume international duties as they will be flying to England in the first week of June. The Indian side will be up against New Zealand in the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Champion from June 18 to June 22 followed by a five-match Test series against England.

For two mega-events, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced a 20-member squad along with four standby players. There were no major surprises in the squad except for the exclusion of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav and the team has received mixed responses from the fans and the cricket analysts.

Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel also carried out a detailed analysis of India’s Test squad. The veteran lauded the selectors for picking up a balanced mix of batters, bowlers, and all-rounder. Speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected, Patel said, “I think it looks a really strong squad. If you want to compare India and New Zealand squad, I think we have covered all the bases.”

Starting with the bowlers, the 36-year-old reckoned that India has enough backup options in the form of Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj if any of the three main pacers including the likes of Japrit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma aren’t fit. 

Imagine KL Rahul not finding a space in the Test squad: Parthiv Patel

Parthiv believes that the batters including Rohit Sharma, Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rishabh Pant form a formidable batting line-up as all have scored runs in the past and have the ability to put up a good total on the England pitches. He added that India benching a batsman like KL Rahul is a testament to their intimidating batting line-up.

“There’s a proper band of proper batsmen who can bat well in England. Everyone scored runs, and there is a spare batsman in KL Rahul. Imagine KL Rahul not finding a space in the Test squad, so how strong this squad could be,” the 36-year-old said.

Further in the interaction, the former RCB player asserted that India has three able spinners in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. Patel made his debut for India in Tests during the England tour of India and made headlines owing to his exploits by the ball.

“Then there is Axar Patel, who has probably been the man of the match in a lot of matches against England. He came in the case of Ravindra Jadeja and it felt like Jadeja will be out. Now Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin will be back, so I think this squad looks really strong,” Parthiv Patel concluded.

Indian cricketers turned politicians