Arshdeep Singh: The wicket-taking bowler India need in Dubai for Champions Trophy | Cricket News

Last week, a couple of videos of Arshdeep Singh making the ball talk went viral on social media.After Australia humbled India within three days on a lively Sydney pitch, the County Championship shared a video of the left-armer Arshdeep Singh knocking over Essex’s Paul Walter with the commentators gushing: “Oh what a ball, that’s a beauty Arshdeep Singh, top of off stumps, bails flying, and that swung back in as well. Wow, what a beauty!”
A couple of days ago, BCCI domestic shared the highlights of Arshdeep’s new ball spell against Maharashtra in Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy. The left-arm seamer cut India hopeful Ruturaj Gaikwad in half, beating his outside edge, before knocking his off stumps.
Arshdeep has made a habit of producing rippers like the Babar Azam’s wicket in his first-ever World Cup (2022) delivery for instance. In three years since making his debut in 2022, with 95 scalps to his name, he has become India’s leading wicket take in the T20Is.
In the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, Arshdeep is the leading wicket taker with 20 wickets. He was at his menacing best with the new ball, picking up nine wickets including a fifer against heavyweight Mumbai. Unlike the stereotype about him, he has also been great with the old ball, snaring 11 wickets.

Beautiful swing from Arshdeep Singh pic.twitter.com/hhFX2WzHlz
— Rothesay County Championship (@CountyChamp) January 7, 2025
Punjab bowling coach Harmeet Singh Bansal says the one spell from Arshdeep that selectors must watch before picking up squad for the Champions Trophy is against Mumbai. On a pitch, where there was nothing for seam bowlers, Arshdeep removed Mumbai’s five of their top six batters in his first spell. Arshdeep’s victims were former and current India U-19 openers Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Ayush Mhatre, his newly-appointed Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer, India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube.
“The wicket was not helpful for the seam bowlers at all. Arshdeep was our lone frontline seamer. He bowled beautifully, moved it both ways and toppled Mumbai’s top-order. He single-handedly destroyed Mumbai’s top-order. Look at the wickets, he has taken. That line-up can easily be at par with any top international side,” Harmeet tells The Indian Express.
Arshdeep phase-wise wickets in VHT1-10 overs – 811-40 overs – 741-50 overs – 5
“He bowled beautifully throughout the tournament. Always turned up for big matches. If there is even gentle help from the pitch, he makes the most out of it.”
With Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to feature in India’s Champions Trophy squad, uncertainty over Mohammed Shami’s fitness, and Mohammed Siraj blowing hot and cold since his magical spell in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, the in-form Arshdeep Singh is India’s best bet for the Champions Trophy.
Arshdeep’s former captain Mandeep Singh, who now plays for Tripura in domestic cricket says, “Abhi nahi toh kab (If not now then when).”
Mandeep says the Ajit Agarkar-led panel missed the trick not picking Arshdeep Singh for the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3.
“We went with the pre-conceived notion that we need bowlers, who can hit the deck hard. Not a single swing bowler was picked. Scott Boland showed us what a good bowler can do on those lively surfaces. India should have picked Arshdeep Singh. A left-arm seamer, who can swing the ball both ways a rare commodity and on those pitches, Arshdeep could have been more than useful,” he says. “Dare I compare two formats, but Arshdeep played the role of deputy to Bumrah in the T20 World Cup with perfection.”
Arshdeep was one of India’s heroes in the T20 World Cup, the tournament’s joint-leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals to his name. It was him who bowled the 19th over in their famous T20 World Cup victory and kept things tight, conceding just 4 runs to strangle the South Africans in the final.
After the T20 World Cup, in an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, Arshdeep has spoken about how badly he wants to play Test cricket. He said: “Arshdeep Singh 100 per cent Test cricket khelna chahta hai (I want to play Test cricket). My ultimate aim is to play Test cricket for India.”
Even in the ODIs, although the sample is not big, in eight matches, Arshdeep has picked up 12 wickets, including a fifer in seaming conditions at the Wanderers, where he ran through South Africa’s top-order like he did against Mumbai.
Arshdeep’s childhood coach Jaswant Rai feels his ward is ready to take bigger responsibilities.

Delightful bowling 👌👌
Arshdeep Singh bowled an excellent first spell and picked up 2⃣ early wickets 🔥#VijayHazareTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/eTrCnJbd5H pic.twitter.com/OSPU87Agtb
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 11, 2025
“Before the Mumbai game, he told me ‘is match mey mai dikhanuga ki mai kya kar sakta hun (In this match I will show what I can do).’ It was a big match, big team and he turned up and destroyed them. I have only seen the scorecard of that match. But I watched the quarterfinals against Maharashtra. Ruturaj looked clueless.
“He is very keen to play all three formats. He wants to prove himself and wants the selectors to notice his performance,” he adds.
Rai says he can have the same effect as Bhuvneshwar Kumar used to have with the new ball. “You remember how MS Dhoni used to utilise Bhuvi with the new ball. He used to bowl seven overs upfront. And if he can get you two or three wickets quickly, you are already ahead in the match.”
Arshdeep’s real value comes when batsmen put the pedal to metal in the last phase of the innings. “He is a dependable death bowler also,” says Rai. “I feel the time is ripe for him to play longer formats consently. Now they are kind of delaying his progress. Give him a chance at least to fail.”

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