Despite the hot weather in Chandigarh, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has been working hard in the nets with his coach Jaswant Rai.
Despite the fact that IPL 14 was interrupted in the middle, the Punjab Kings’ 6’3″ tall speedster has been training hard in preparation for the Sri Lanka tour.
The lanky bowler has been working on slower deliveries, bouncers, and yorkers while also focusing on mental toughness.
The 22-year-old bowler was not named to the Shikhar Dhawan-led Indian team for the ODI and T20 series against Sri Lanka, but he was named to the net bowlers’ list, along with Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Sai Kishore, and Simarjeet Singh.
And, according to him, the best part of this selection would be being around coach Rahul Dravid and picking his brain.
While playing for the India U-19 team and attending camps at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, Dravid, who has been mentoring young cricketers in recent years, was instrumental in fine-tuning Singh’s bowling.
“Dravid sir had been exceptional when I played for India U-19 team way back in 2017 and 2018,” Singh said, looking forward to reuniting with Dravid after the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2018. His class and expertise were evident in the way he inspired and supported the cricketers. So many cricketers from that batch are now either part of the Indian team or on the verge of joining it. I’m really looking forward to bowling with Dravid sir during the net sessions. I’m going to ask him a lot of questions and listen to his advice.”
Porel and Singh were both part of India’s 2018 U-19 World Cup victory, which was led by captain Prithvi Shaw and coach Dravid.
Singh, who made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings in 2019, had successful 2020 and 2021 stints for his franchise, leaving a lasting impression with his bowling, particularly in the death-overs.
Singh was rewarded for taking 19 wickets in 17 IPL matches at a strike rate of 16.79 and an average of 25.11. In IPL 14, he demonstrated his bowling prowess by bowling at crucial junctures and delivering breakthroughs. Singh starred in the team’s thrilling season-opening win over Rajasthan Royals, bowling the game’s final over and dismissing in-form Sanju Samson.
“When one is bowling to the likes of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul in the nets and has a coach like Anil Kumble, one is going to improve and get better with each game. Then there was Mohammed Shami for inputs from the other bowling end. Also, the time I got to work on my fitness in the lockdown last season helped me perform well in both 2020 and 2021 IPLs. I am going to use all my experience of being around senior cricketers like Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” felt Singh, who is Punjab’s strike-bowler along with Siddharth Kaul.
“Arshdeep has improved tremendously in the last three years. The experience he gained during IPLs helped him become more confident about himself. He is turning out to be a thinking bowler and is constantly working on improving. He knows he can be in the Indian team if he performs consistently for Punjab Kings in IPL and Punjab in domestic cricket,” shared his coach Rai, who is also a former Ranji Trophy player from Himachal Pradesh. India will play three ODIs and three T20s in Sri Lanka.
