Ahead of India's match against the Netherlands in their second T20 World Cup Super 12 match, former India stalwart Anil Kumble was appreciative of young pacer Arshdeep Singh, who took three wickets, including the important ones of Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan, in India's first match against Pakistan on Sunday, October 23.
Speaking on ESPNcricinfo's Open Mic programme, Kumble drew comparisons with former India pacer Zaheer Khan, who won the ODI World Cup with India in 2011. "...Arshdeep has certainly matured and I'd like to see him carry on. Probably what Zak (Zaheer Khan) did for India. I expect Arshdeep to go on to do some wonderful things for India," he said.
Kumble worked with Arshdeep during the spinner's time at Punjab Kings and was quick to notice the development that the 23-year-old has made over the years. "I was really impressed with Arshdeep, how he's come through. I worked with him for three years and I could see the kind of development that he has had in the T20 format, and last year's IPL was a classic example of how he handled the pressure.
"He perhaps bowled the tough overs for the team and yeah, you don't always look at the wickets column in the T20 game, you look at what moments the bowler comes up with. And the temperament that he's shown, it's wonderful. We saw that again in the India-Pakistan game. When you have 90,000 people at the MCG, it's always challenging.
"Pakistan certainly have the best pace-bowling attack, for sure. They lacked the all-rounder that Australia has. Australia has, overall, a good attack, in terms of having options. India certainly has good spinners. If you ask me, I think Pakistan have the best fast-bowling attack," he concluded.
