Former Indian all-rounder and commentator Irfan Pathan has asserted that Gurnoor Brar has an excellent opportunity to prove his worth in the forthcoming three-match ODI series against the West Indies at home.
With a lot of Indian regulars missing the ODI series against the West Indies due to the Asian Games schedule, Pathan, while speaking on Star Sports, reckoned that the ODI series will be a great opportunity for Brar, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel.
“This is not the main team, and it’s the right way to go with many of the regulars playing the Asian Games. It’s a huge opportunity for several others, especially Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel. It could also be a golden opportunity for Gurnoor Brar to take his international career forward. And India can afford to pick a second-string squad like this against a side like the West Indies,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
It’s important to note that Brar has played six ODIs, taking 11 wickets. On the other hand, Nitish and Jurel had impressive outings in their most recent series. Further, Irfan reckoned that the West Indies series and the Asian Games being played at the same time will be a blessing in disguise as the bench strength will be tested in the series.
“You want to test your bench strength with only a year left before the World Cup. The opportunity has incidentally presented itself for that with the Asian Games happening in parallel. So it’s a blessing in disguise,” Pathan added.
The first match of the three-game ODI series will commence on Sunday, September 27, in Trivandrum.
India’s ODI team vs WI: Shubman Gill [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul [VC], Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Naman Dhir.
