'Indian cricket team will be unbeatable if they have an all-rounder like Ben Stokes' - Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has opined that the Indian cricket team would become unbeatable if they get an all-rounder like Ben Stokes in the squad.

Ben Stokes is a match-winning all-rounder, and in Pathan's view, having a player like him would help the Indian cricket team win matches anywhere in the world. The Baroda-based all-rounder made the following statement on Twitter.

"Indian cricket will be unbeatable anywhere in the world if they have a match winning all rounder like Ben Stokes #matchwinner."

Indian cricket will be unbeatable anywhere in the world if they have a match winning all rounder like @benstokes38 #matchwinner

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 21, 2020

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Ben Stokes' rise and the Indian cricket team's need for a fast-bowling all-rounder

Ben Stokes: faces 356 balls in 487 minutes first inngs. Delivers an 11 over spell of aggressive round the wkt bowling. Races to 78 in 57 deliveries 2nd inngs. Then serves up 14.4 overs of Match changing aggression with the ball. Think about that next time you feel tired. #Gr8ness

— Ian bishop (@irbishi) July 21, 2020

Ben Stokes rose to the number one position in the ICC Test Rankings for all-rounders earlier in the day after his magnificent performance in the Manchester Test match against West Indies. He scored a century in the first innings and followed it up with a quickfire fifty in the second innings.

Stokes even dismissed three West Indies batsmen in the Test match to contribute as much as possible to the team. He won the Player of the Match award for his all-round brilliance, and this was not the first time in his career that Ben Stokes stole the show with an incredible performance.

A fast-bowling all-rounder is something that the Indian cricket team has been looking for for quite some time. Hardik Pandya seemed to have solved that problem, but his injury issues have left a massive hole in the Indian cricket team. Recently, Virat Kohli and co. struggled to perform well in New Zealand.

Irfan Pathan believes that a seam-bowling all-rounder like Ben Stokes could solve the Indian cricket team's problems when they tour overseas. Also, the presence of another fast bowling all-rounder would help the Indian cricket team management in balancing the workload of Hardik Pandya.