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Punjab Kings' (PBKS) Arshdeep Singh has established himself as one of the finest pacers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Arshdeep has done exceptionally well in the white-ball formats but is yet to get his India Test cap. The former India head coach Ravi Shastri has backed him as well for a spot in the Test squad for England tour. One of the contenders for the purple cap this season, Arshdeep's childhood coach Jaswant Rai said that he can't coach him anymore. He lauded him for assessing the conditions in Dharamsala and decimating Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) top order. Rai wants him to bowl with the red ball now.
"I burst into laughter. I told him, Arsh, you have elevated your game so much that I can't coach you anymore," Rai told The Times of India revealing Arshdeep called him after the match and asked, 'How was my bowling?'.
"What he showed on Sunday was maturity. Yes, there was juice in the surface, and three years ago, Arsh would have gone for that 3-4m length to get the swing, but now he didn't. He has learnt the importance of hitting the 6m (good length) in these conditions," he added.
Rai feels that Arshdeep has gained the experience he needs and should play Test cricket as he can provide balance to the team.
"Wo pak chuka hai (He is ripe now). He should get a chance to play in the red ball. He can bring the balance that India has been looking for so long," Rai said.
India have been lacking a left-arm pacer in Test cricket since Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan's retirement. In the recent years, they tried veteran Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat as well. T Natarajan doesn't play longer format due to injury whereas Yash Dayal was selected but did not make his debut.
The Punjab pacer is likely to be on the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee's radar for the England tour where he can use swinging conditions.
Arshdeep's stint with Kent and first-class numbers
Earlier, Arshdeep had revealed that he played County cricket for Kent to gain experience in red-ball cricket. However, the 26-year-old pacer does not have an impressive record in first-class cricket so far. He has 66 wickets from 21 games at an average of 30.37, including two five-wicket hauls.
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