On the evening of Sunday, 22 May 2022, Punjab Kings medium pacer Arshdeep Singh called his mother Baljit Kaur before the IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Baljit Kaur was praying to God when her son shared the news of his selection in the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Arshdeep Singh has been picked along with fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan and Umran Malik.
Baljit Kaur told The Indian Express, “Arshdeep calls me before every match. He did the same on Sunday evening. He told me – Maa, how are you, I have been selected in the Indian team. I couldn’t hold back my tears. This happened when his accomplices Harpit Brar and Baltej Singh were also on the video call. As soon as he said this, he started doing Bhangra in the team bus. I realized how big this moment is for Arshdeep. He never gets tired. He only tells me to do his massage after the training session.
Baljit Kaur laughs and says, ‘So this means that when he comes home to prepare for India, now I will have to give him a long massage. It has been a difficult journey for him. It will be our biggest pleasure to see him wearing the India cap.
Arshdeep Singh was cast in cricket by his father Darshan Singh. Darshan Singh is a security officer. He had seen Arshdeep bowling inswings in the park near his home in Kharar. He then took her to coach Jaswant Rai in Chandigarh. Training at the academy in Chandigarh meant that young Arshdeep had to cycle from Kharar to Chandigarh twice a day for training.
Jaswant Rai recalls, “When Arshdeep joined the academy, I was impressed by his ability to swing the ball. He had high arm action. At that time his height was also good. I remember he used to try to bowl all the six balls in a different way in an over.
Jaswant Rai said, ‘He was not perfect at that time, but his ability to bowl inswing made me think that this man can go a long way in his career. Thereafter, an incident convinced the coach that this youngster would one day play for India.
Jaswant Rai explains, “It was summer and Arshdeep arrived a little late for morning practice. The practice session starts at 5:30 am. When I asked him, he said to me, Sir, koi vee punishment dega. After the practice session, I noticed that there was no bicycle in the parking lot.
Jaswant Rai told, ‘I asked him about his cycle, he told that the cycle is broken and he has come to the academy (about 40 km) on foot from home. He could have told this to me before, but he didn’t. That day I was convinced that he had the passion to play for India.
Arshdeep was part of the U-19 World Cup winning team in 2018. However, then he got to play only two matches in the Under-19 World Cup. In that he took 3 wickets. Arshdeep made his debut in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the same year. He was bought by Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2019 at the behest of then coach Mike Hesson. Arshdeep took 3 wickets in 3 matches.
IPL 2020 has been a very good season for Arshdeep. He took nine wickets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with an economy of 8.77 and became his team’s third-highest wicket-taker. Last year, Arshdeep emerged as the second highest wicket-taker for the team with 18 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 19.00 and an economy rate of 8.27.
Jaswant Rai says, “After the U-19 World Cup, we worked on his angle. Also focused on the position of his wrist. Exposure in IPL and Vijay Hazare Trophy made him a mature bowler. I myself was a left arm spinner so used to tell him how to use the index finger for inswing and wrist for outswing.
Jaswant Rai said, ‘We got him bowling in a box at distances of 5m, 6m, 7m, 8m in the practice session. If he needed a swing, he would have hit the 5m box. Had the ball become old, he would have aimed 6 metres. For length and hard length balls, he would bowl in the 7m and 8m boxes. In addition to his own videos in slow motion, I also showed Arshdeep videos of Wasim Akram, how he used the wicket close to the stumps. Apart from this, how he used to throw the bouncer and then pitch the ball up to the top.
For Arshdeep, the ability to control the pace of the batsmen in the death overs in IPL 2022 has been important. His average in death overs is one of the best in the league. After showing his ability to take wickets and not give runs in the death overs, Arshdeep Singh will now be noticed during the T20 International series against South Africa.