Team India pacer Arshdeep Singh has revealed who his idols were growing up. Like any left-arm pacer, Arshdeep was inspired by legendary Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram and Indian great Zaheer Khan.“All left-arm pacers’ videos that are on YouTube, I don’t think I’ve missed any yet,” Arshdeep said on Breakfast with Champions.
“If I used to watch Yorkers, I really liked Wasim Akram’s compilation videos. Saare videos mey bas dande uda rhe (In all the videos, he was only hitting the stumps). A left-arm seamer bowling those in-swingers and reverse swing to right-handed batters, I used to enjoy it a lot… what a skill he had,” he said.“If I am watching reverse swing, then I watch the videos of Zaheer Khan as well.“This is a skill where you have to put in a lot of effort. Even if you open Malinga’s interviews and watch them, he also says the same thing — this is not a skill you will learn at once.“My father and my coach have told me that the more you practice it, the more you will achieve mastery in it. If you are bowling with 80% effort in practice, it becomes half of that in a match,” he said.
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Arshdeep played only two matches in the recently concluded Asia Cup but became the first Indian pacer to bag 100 wickets in T20 cricket.Having made his T20I debut in July 2022 against England, Arshdeep has completed 100 wickets in just three years and 74 days.Arshdeep has picked up 43 wickets in the powerplay in T20Is, averaging 20.06 at an economy of 7.50 in that phase. No other bowler has more wickets than him in powerplays since his debut.Arshdeep is also very reliable at the death, having bagged 48 wickets.Thirty-eight of Arshdeep’s 100 wickets have been of left-hand batters, comfortably the highest for any bowler since his debut.The 2024 T20 World Cup has been the most productive competition for Arshdeep so far, bringing him 17 wickets in eight innings.
