India's left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was in sublime form with the new ball in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 encounter against Maharashtra. Ahead of the ODI series against England and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad announcement, Punjab pacer Arshdeep castled Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad to knock his off stump.
In a video posted by BCCI Domestic, Gaikwad was troubled by deliveries outside off stump bowled by the left-arm pacer. He did not get enough room and eventually fell for Arshdeep's setup as he was squared up by an outswinger. Gaikwad who has not been able to score big in the last few innings departed after scoring just five runs from as many balls.
In his next over, Arshdeep troubled Siddesh Veer. The left-handed batter edged one to wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra as he returned to the pavillion for a five-ball duck. In his first spell of five overs, he conceded 21 runs, bowled a maiden and bagged a couple of wickets.
Arshdeep has been in tremendous form of late. In the last seven appearances in Vijay Hazare Trophy, he has 17 wickets. In the last two appearances, he bagged four-wicket hauls against Puducherry and Hyderabad. Also, he bagged a five-wicket haul against Mumbai, his List A career's second.
Kulkarni scores maiden List A century
After two early wickets, opener Arshin Kulkarni and Ankit Bawne got the innings back on track. Bawne departed for a 85-ball 60 whereas Kulkarni went on to score a century. The opener scored 107 runs from 137 balls including 14 fours. Towards the end of the innings, wicketkeeper-batter Nikhil Naik's unbeaten 29-ball 52 paired with Satyajeet Bachhav's 15-ball 20 helped Maharashtra post 275/6 on the board.
Squad announcement soon
Arshdeep has made a strong statement ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad announcement. There is a question mark over Jasprit Bumrah's availability due to back spasm he suffered in the last Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Also, Mohammed Shami is yet to get clearance from the BCCI medical team to make his return to international circuit.
The selectors are likely to include him in the five-T20I and three-ODI series against England at home. The T20I series starts on January 22 whereas the ODI series commences on February 6.
Arshdeep's ODI record
So far, Arshdeep has played eight ODIs. He has 12 wickets including a five-wicket haul and a four-wicket haul against South Africa in December 2023. His last ODI appearance was against Sri Lanka where he remained wicketless in the nine overs he bowled. He is yet to play an ODI match in home conditions.