Left-arm pacers are a rare breed. They provide variety to the bowling attack and can be menacing with the new ball, especially against right-handed batters by bringing the ball into the pads. Young Arshdeep Singh has been expensive of late but his ability to bowl yorkers in death overs makes him a much-needed speciallist alongside Jasprit Bumrah.
Member of India’s Under-19 World Cup 2018 squad
Born on February 5, 1999, at Guna, Madhya Pradesh, the Punjab pacer did his schooling at Guru Nanak Public School in Chandigarh. He shot to fame in 2018 where he was part of the Prithvi Shaw-led Under-19 World Cup-winning squad. He made his List A debut for Punjab in the same year.
IPL debut in 2019
The teenager was picked by the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). He made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut against Rajasthan Royals. His maiden IPL wicket was England's T20I team captain Jos Buttler. His other wicket on debut was then RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane. He was a little expensive but helped his side register a win against RR.
He played just three games in his debut IPL season. In the next season, he bagged nine wickets from eight games. His breakthrough season came in 2021 when he had 18 wickets to his name from 12 games at an average of 19.
In the IPL 2024, he bagged 19 wickets, most for him in a season. However, his economy rate turned worse at 10.03 runs per over.
Arshdeep’s T20I debut
He made his T20I debut against England in Southampton. He started his T20I career with a maiden, a feat achieved by Jhulan Goswami and Ajit Agarkar before. His two wickets on debut were tailenders but his pace and accuracy impressed many. He followed it up with seven wickets in the five-T20I series against West Indies. Then, he earned a place in T20 Asia Cup 2022.
Arshdeep’s T20 World Cup debut
In absence of Bumrah, Arshdeep’s role in T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia was crucial. While the Melbourne clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is remembered for Virat Kohli's sensational knock in the run chase, Arshdeep made Pakistan batters dance to his tunes with the new ball. He removed both openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam during his magical opening spell. Later, he dismissed Asif Ali in the death overs as well. In the T20 World Cup, he was India’s highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets. He remained wicketless only in the semifinal clash against England.
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Arshdeep's T20I numbers
So far, he has played 44 T20Is. He has 62 wickets atn average of 20.87 including a four-wicket haul. In his last T20I match, he took three wickets against Afghanistan before the IPL 2024.
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