3 reasons why Arshdeep Singh is the next big thing for India in T20 cricket

Arshdeep Singh has impressed fans and critics alike with his recent performances in T20 cricket and made his T20I debut for India last month against England.

His T20 record in 2022 has been excellent - he has taken 19 wickets in 19 matches at an economy rate of 7.35 at anaverage of 26.89. After a good IPL season, he was drafted into the squad for the England and West Indies tours.

Let's talk about the three reasons why Arshdeep could be the next big thing for India in the 20-over format.

#1 Adds variety to the bowling attack

Since ace pacer Zaheer Khan's retirement, India have had quality left-arm fast bowlers in short supply. The likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Khaleel Ahmed have been unable to make the most of their opportunities at the international level, while Thangaraj Natarajan has been struggling with injury issues for the past 18 months.

Most top T20I teams in the world have quality left-arm quick bowlers, some of the leading lights being Trent Boult (New Zealand), Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan) and Mitchell Starc (Australia). India have a world-class bowling unit themselves but sans a quality left-arm pacer.

Arshdeep has good pace and has impeccable control over his line and length. The pace trio of Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep look extremely potent on paper for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

#2 Can bowl in all phases of a T20 game

Arshdeep has taken 61 wickets in 54 matches at an economy rate of 7.85 and a bowling average of 24.47 in his T20 career. These are highly impressive numbers for a 23-year-old youngster who has come up against some of the best T20 players in the world in the Indian Premier League.

His speciality is death bowling, but he's been good in the Powerplay overs as well. The following is Arshdeep's phase-wise record in the format.

• Powerplay (1-6): 17 wickets at 7.81 economy & 29.41 average
• Middle overs (7-15): 6 wickets at 8.24 economy & 45.33 average
• Death overs (16-20): 27 wickets at 8.06 economy & 16.18 average

The numbers suggest that while there is still scope for improvement, he is certainly flexible enough to be used as per the requirements of the team.

#3 Ice-cool under pressure

In the three matches that he has featured in for India till now, he has been exceptional at the death. These have been his respective returns vs England and West Indies - 2/7 (1.3 overs), 1/8 (2 overs) and 1/10 (2 overs)

Even in the Indian Premier League, he was one of the finest death bowlers this season. In 26.3 overs, he picked up 10 wickets at an economy rate of just 6.86 and an average of 18.20 - implying that he was economical as well as wicket-taking in the final five overs.

These performances demonstrate that he isn't one to get bogged down by pressure situations. In fact, he is ready to embrace these challenges and win matches for his team.