Irfan Pathan backs swing bowling over pace, says 'ask Virat Kohli to choose between...'

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his disappointment over seamers trying to change their style and generate more pace lately. Pathan, in his column for The Playfield Magazine, argued swing bowling is the key for a bowler to survive anywhere in the world. Pathan said batsmen don't fear pace anymore because of the better equipment in the game, however, a bowler can trouble batters with variations and swing, suggesting the latter is better than express bowling. 

Pathan cited the example of Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who is considered one of the most lethal bowlers in the game. Pathan said a bowler like Buvneshwar can never become Shoaib Akhtar, who once clocked 100mph with the ball. The former Indian cricketer said when Bhuvneshwar is swinging the ball he can be better than all those fast-bowlers simply because of his ability to bowl multiple variations. Pathan said that is why the skipper calls Bhuvneshwar to bowl in the death overs because he can throw cutters, knuckleball, and can also swing the ball both ways. 

Pathan said that batsmen such as Rishabh Pant and Jos Buttler have the ability to destroy any pace attack in the world but they would find it difficult to play swing bowling. The Gujarat cricketer further added that even Indian skipper Virat Kohli would say that he finds James Anderson more difficult to play than former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson. Also note, Kohli's one of the poorest Test performances came against England in 2014, where he was troubled by seamer James Anderson. However, the same year when the Indian batsman toured Australia and faced Johnson, he scored four centuries. 

India's tour of England 

The Indian team is currently in the United Kingdom to play in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) and a subsequent five-match Test series against England. The Virat Kohli-led side arrived in the UK on June 3 and underwent a compulsory isolation period for a week. The Indian side has resumed training as a group and will soon play a couple of intra-squad matches before locking horns against New Zealand in the inaugural edition of the WTC final, starting June 18. 

IMAGE: PTI