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Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan spoke on all-rounder Naman Dhir's surprise inclusion in the squad for West Indies ODIs, saying that he admires the Punjab batter's talent and a player like him, who offers flexibility in terms of batting position and useful off-spin, has been missing from the Indian set-up.
Irfan was speaking on JioHotstar's 'Follow the Blues' programme. Team India will be taking on West Indies in a three-match ODI series from September 27 onwards. One surprising name in the squad was Naman, who had an incredible Sher-e-Punjab T20 with Amritsar Soormas recently. For the title-winning side Amritsar Soormas, Naman made 655 runs in 10 innings at an average of 72.28, including two centuries and three fifties, with a strike rate of 217.61 and a best score of 173. Speaking during the programme, Pathan said, "I really admire Naman Dhir, I think he is a great talent. More than his performances in domestic cricket, he has been selected for his ability to bowl. A batter who can bat lower down the order, can bat in the top order as well, and can bowl handy off-spin, I think a player of that type has been missing a little bit in the ODI setup. Washington Sundar is not available because of the Asian Games, and Riyan Parag has had injury concerns, so if Naman gets his opportunity, I will be excited to see him. He has the skill, but more than his batting, his bowling will be tested. In List-A cricket, Naman has played 14 matches, scoring 351 runs in 11 innings at an average of 39.00 and a strike rate of over 106, with four fifties and a best score of 97. He has also taken seven wickets at an average of 37.14. He has also been a crucial cog of the Mumbai Indians (MI) batting line-up, scoring 318 in 14 innings at an average of 26.50, with a strike rate of 147.22, including two fifties and a best score of 57 during this year's season, which has been Naman's best with the bat. Indias ODI team for the West Indies series: 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 and Naman Dhir. (ANI)
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