The report card of Arshdeep Singh in T20Is makes for an impressive reading – 71 games, 109 wickets, average of 18.65. As it turns out, he is the highest wicket-taker for India in this format. And too while playing alongside the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav.
That is a quick summary of Arshdeep’s present standing in T20Is. However, he wasn’t always this good. Just spool back in time to the 2017-18 season, he was basically India Under-19’s fourth-choice seamer behind Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi and Ishan Porel in the 50-over World Cup. The journey since then has been a fruitful one indeed.
So, what has really worked for Arshdeep in the shortest version of the game? First and foremost, he is a left-arm pace bowler. In the abridged versions of the game, and more so in T20s, it is a boon to have a left-arm pacer, as he would bring the over-the-wicket left-arm angle to the table.
With T20 cricket demanding the batters to take more risks, it is logical to believe that the angle would work against the right-handers. Simply put, it is relatively tougher for a right-hander to line-up a left-arm paceman bowling from over the wicket. Arshdeep’s bowling, though, is much more than just possessing the angle.
The left-armer does swing the new ball both ways; the recent example being the third T20I versus South Africa. The essence of his swing-bowling prowess being his traits to generate consistent swing in the first over of the innings. Incidentally, 11 of his T20I wickets have come in the first over.
With the passage of time, Arshdeep has also developed a wobble-seam delivery. Just to give an example, he employed this particular delivery as a decoy while bowling to Tristan Stubbs in the first over of the Cuttack T20I. Arshdeep also has a fine surprise short ball that skids on to the bat a little quicker than expected, and he blends it with his left-arm angle. To make it even better, the left-arm bowler has also learnt the art of old-ball swing.
Last but not the least, Arshdeep has been blessed with the required temperament to absorb pressure in the slog overs. Recently, in the Asia Cup, his amalgam of yorker-length deliveries bowled wider of off proved to be the telling difference between India and Sri Lanka, in a Super Over.
While considering Arshdeep’s sound temperament, we should also ask whether he can don the white flannels for India in Test cricket, especially in conditions suited to his style of bowling. That is something to ponder upon for the Indian think-tank in the future. For now, he would be one of Suryakumar Yadav’s major weapons as India attempt to defend the T20 World Cup title in their own den.
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