Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has spoken out in favour of giving more opportunities to youngster Avesh Khan after his impressive performances in the T20Is against West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The young pacer made his India debut in the 3rd T20I against West Indies and had a tough initiation in international cricket conceding 42 runs in his 4 overs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Avesh, was then benched for the first two T20Is against Sri Lanka before he again made his way back to impress cricket fans all around India with fiery display of pace bowling in the final T20I in Dharamsala.
Pathan on Star Sports lauded the Madhya Pradesh speedster and requested the captain and the coach in Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to back him as much as Virat Kohli did with Mohammed Siraj.
He said, "Backing is very important for every player because when you play in international cricket, you have more bad days than good days."
“When you have those bad days, it is important that your captain and the team management backs you. When we talk about Mohammed Siraj, Virat Kohli backed him a lot. I would go to the extent of saying that Kohli should be credited for the confidence with which Siraj bowls in international cricket. So yes, players need that backing. And I believe Avesh Khan should receive the same backing as Siraj because he has that talent,” added the 2007 T20 World Cup winner.
Avesh, who had represented Delhi Capitals (DC) so well in 2021, will now be seen playing for Lucknow Supergiants (LSG) in the IPL 2022, as he was bought by the new franchise for INR 10 crore in the mega auction.
