Better planning needed for ICC events, opines Irfan Pathan

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan said that the Indian team required better planning before entering ICC events. India last won an ICC event back in 2013 which was the Champions Trophy in England and since then have struggled in the knockout phases of such tournaments.

"We need to make sure that we have better planning going into the ICC trophies, going into the World Cup. If we have better planning, we have all the resources to be a champion," Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports show' Cricket Connected'.

We have everything to become world champions: Irfan Pathan

India topped the league phase of the 2019 World Cup. But when it came to the crucial semifinal against New Zealand, the entire Indian batting order failed to deliver. Irfan Pathan believed that it was poor planning that cost India the game.

The team management groomed Ambati Rayudu at number four for almost a year and then suddenly one bad series against Australia with the bat saw him dropped for the World Cup and replaced by the inexperienced Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant.

Naturally, this unsettled middle and the team failed to qualify for the World Cup final.

"The only thing lacking is that we did not have a number four batsman just before the World Cup as well. We were struggling with having a proper eleven. If you look at the recent 2019 tournament, it was bad planning. We have resources, we have players, we have fitness, we have everything to be a world champion," Pathan concluded.