Former Indian all-rounder and commentator Irfan Pathan has reckoned that the all-rounder Naman Dhir has been selected in the Indian ODI squad for the forthcoming West Indies series for his off-spin bowling.
Notably, Naman Dhir ended the just-concluded Sher-E-Punjab T20 League 2026 campaign as the leading run-scorer, amassing 655 runs from 10 games at an average of 72.8 and a strike rate of 217.61. It’s worth noting that Naman Dhir has picked up 32 wickets across formats in domestic cricket.
“I really admire him, and he has great talent. But he has been selected more for his off-spin bowling skill than his domestic performances. Because it’s not as if there aren’t other better-performing players in domestic cricket. His bowling skill is missing from the Indian team without Washington Sundar and with Riyan Parag injured,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
Further, the former all-rounder requested the Indian team management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, to play Yashasvi Jaiswal in the XI as part of India’s plans for the forthcoming ODI World Cup 2027.
“My eyes will be mainly on Jaiswal in this series. I want to see how much of an opportunity he gets in this series. He is certain to be the back-up opener for the 2027 World Cup. It should not be that he has not gotten enough game time going into South Africa for the World Cup. So whenever the opportunity arises, he must play regularly,” Pathan added.
The three-match ODI series against the West Indies 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.
