Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has heaped praise on seamer Harshal Patel, claiming that he will be nothing short of a trump card for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team at the ICC T20 World Cup later this year. 

India will aim for better performance under the leadership of Rohit at the 2022 T20 World Cup, after a forgettable campaign in the previous edition of the marquee event.

India hosted South Africa for a five-match T20I series following the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, kicking off the T20 World Cup's rehearsals.

The hosts were led by Rishabh Pant, and the five-match T20I series ended on Sunday (June 19) with a 2-2 tie despite the absence of India's top players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Jasprit Bumrah.

SEE ALSO: R Ashwin to join Indian squad in a couple of days after recovering from COVID - Report

Batting icon Gavaskar praised Harshal Patel for his impressive performance against the Proteas. Harshal took 7 wickets in the recently concluded series at an economy of 7.23 with the majority of his bowling coming in the slog overs.

Gavaskar lauded Patel as one of India's greatest assets for the T20 World Cup in remarks made to Star Sports following the conclusion of the T20I series.

“He will be one of the trump cards because you have Bhuvneshwar, Shami, and Bumrah as well. Brilliant for a skipper to have someone like him to depend on, He can come in and bowl maybe even in the powerplay where people are now going with change of pace. So yes he certainly should be part of the group,” he said.

Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar will lead India's pace attack in the upcoming Ireland T20I series in the absence of Bumrah.

(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)