Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that India can play Kuldeep Yadav to tackle the Glenn Phillips threat in the fifth T20I against New Zealand in Hamilton. Irfan explained that Kuldeep can take the ball away from the right-hander from the stumps and hence he could induce a false stroke as well. Even as New Zealand are 3-1 down in the five-match T20I series, Phillips has been in great form for the hosts. In four innings, he has smashed 276 runs at an average of 92 and a strike rate of 189.04 as well.

During a discussion on Cricinfo, Irfan said: “I would like to see Kuldeep Yadav taking the ball away from Glenn Phillips from the stumps. There will be very interesting battles. Personally, I would want to see both of them. But can both of them fit in the playing XI as far as the combination is concerned? Maybe India will say, we will only have seven batters because it’s a good pitch and we can have both the spinners as well in the game. Giving them an opportunity in the last game, when we have won the series, it will be the right thing to do.”

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While discussing Team India’s batting order for the Hamilton clash, Irfan Pathan backed Ishan Kishan to retain his place in the playing XI ahead of Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

“If Ishan Kishan would have played all the games without any injury, I would have said, okay, let’s play Vaibhav Suryavanshi. But how is Ishan Kishan feeling about his fitness? He has been a consistent performer. Do you tell Sanju Samson to sit out? Sanju might be feeling, why do I always get trapped? It will be a tough one, but I won’t be surprised if Vaibhav gets an opportunity,” he concluded.