India versus South Africa: Arshdeep Singh shows signs of cracking ODI code | Cricket News

The depth of India’s fast bowling is dizzying. The blue-chipped pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, the batsmen-wreckers of the World Cup gone , were nowhere to be seen in the Bullring. Bumrah and Siraj are preserving themselves for their country’s latest tilt at winning a Test series in South Africa; the hard labour of a frantic year took its toll on Shami’s body. Thrown, thus, into the deep end were a trio with a collective reger of nine games and five wickets.But on a surface with variable bounce, lateral movement in the initial overs and sufficient pace, the callow pair of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan sufficed, sharing nine wickets between them, and consigning the hosts to their lowest ever total at home, a meagre 116, which India’s batsmen hunted down with minimal fuss, with 200 balls to spare and eight wickets in tact.
No one would have anticipated them to sting as painfully as they did. Arshdeep would later admit that he was nervous to pick the new ball because he had not taken a wicket yet in three games. He would not only grab his first scalp, but also would reger his maiden five-for in international cricket.

Scalping a 5⃣-wicket haul, Arshdeep Singh was on a roll with the ball & bagged the Player of the Match award as #TeamIndia won the first #SAvIND ODI. 👏 👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/tHxu0nUwwH pic.twitter.com/tkmDbXOVtg
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 17, 2023
In a 30-minute opening spell, he justified the wisdom of selectors’ persence despite his scattergun reputation. Perhaps, the 50-over game suits his craft more than T20s. The shortest format is a hot furnace from the start —the first two overs, the first spell, that’s the game. The 50-over variant is where he could be self-contained, where he could res the urge to experiment with seam positions and speed, where he could bowl the way he wants to, where he gets time to probe and experiment, to find out what this ball is capable of and locate the right length on this pitch. Or when he could bowl with a clear head.
When he bowls with a free and clear mind, when he is undurbed about leaking boundaries, un-obsessed about landing every ball on the toes, everything else falls into place, The run-up is smooth, he glides through the crease with a fluid motion of his limbs, the release is uncluttered, the wr comes down nicely, the ball comes off his palms as his mind has designed.

In the first five balls, he struggled to control the swing as well as the ideal length on the surface. The fifth ball fetched a wicket, though it owed more to the indiscretion of Reeza Hendricks to reach out for a ball in a different post-code but to be foxed a hint of inward movement. He chopped onto his stumps.

.@arshdeepsinghh beats @Tonydezorzi33 for pace! An outside edge well taken the skipper #KLRahul 🔥
Tune-in to the 1st #SAvIND ODILIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/H6FNdn2kd4
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 17, 2023
Suddenly everything fell into place. He consumed Rassie van der Dussen with a Boult-ish in-swinger, swerving away in the air, and shaping back to thrash his pads. An inch fuller in length, he would have completed a hat-trick. But the shorter length meant that even though the ball swung back to hit the pads of Aiden Markram, the ball would whle over the bails. He would then beat his outside edge as well as hurry him into pulling — he has an under-appreciated short ball, which is sharp, fast and awkward. Markram counterpunched with a six and four, but Arshdeep didn’t taper off. He produced a wobble-seamer, realising that conventional movement was dying, that hissed past Tony de Zorz. He changed his default length from full to short-of-good length. De Zorz, his confidence soaring after hitting Mukesh for a few hits to the fence, tried to pull him, only to miscue. Bounce and seam movement would devour Heinrich Klaasen soon after, as Arshdeep shoved South Africa to 52 for 4.
In between overs, he could be seen panting, perhaps struggling to adjust to the high-altitude of the ground. At the presentation ceremony, he would admit: “Feel little sore but loving the movement. I learnt about the altitude only after a few overs when I was running out of breath.”
Arshdeep would take a breather after his first spell, but there was no room to breath for South Africa, as Avesh Khan came breathing down them with his pace and seam movement. Avesh did what Shami famously did in the World Cup, to trade successive blows to knock the opponent out of the game.
Like Arshdeep, Avesh’s career too has not yet taken. His virtues are obvious — he has pace, he could extract inward movement and make the ball hold its line. There are gifts to make a decent enough career, but he has been erratic like Arshdeep, or more suitably, a young Umesh Yadav, with bustling energy and robust physique. On inspired days, he made batsmen pass through an inferno, as did Avesh on Sunday. If Yadav has an out-swing pearl, Avesh possesses an in-swing diamond. Two of his four wickets — Markram and Wiaan Mulder —owed to the nip-backers. The Mulder one was a joy to behold, the ball curving in the air and seam into the batsman after pitching.

.@arshdeepsinghh is on 🔥He strikes back to back & #SouthAfrica is on the backfoot!
Tune-in to the 1st #SAvIND ODILIVE NOW | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/6zqJrZAADe
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 17, 2023
But the ball that could be his currency of fame is the one that holds its line to the left-hander from around the stumps. Right-handed fast bowlers would tell you how difficult it is to master the ball. The ball that eliminated David Miller was a trifle wide and short, but the South African batsman did not factor in the possibility of the ball holding the line. He expected it to come back in like most right-arm seamers from around the stumps would.
From 73 for 8, a comeback route was nigh impossible. From then on, it was a question of who among Avesh and Arshdeep would pinch their maiden five-for. Arshdeep it would be, when he dismissed Andile Phehlukwayo, the lone fighter among South Africa’s batsmen (33 off 49), but it was an afternoon the coffers of India’s bank of reverse bowlers overflowed. No Bumrah, Siraj, and Shami. Well, no problem. Arshdeep and Avesh sufficed, presenting another account of India’s pace-bowling depth.