As New Zealand, powered by Daryl Mitchell’s 131* and Will Young’s 87, cantered to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the second ODI in Rajkot against a largely toothless Indian bowling attack, there were questions raised over pacer Arshdeep Singh’s continued exclusion from the playing XI. Not only is the bowling lineup missing a quality left-arm pacer but also someone who has a knack for taking wickets by swinging the new ball and keeping batters quiet with the old ball by bowling in the ‘block hole’.During the first ODI between India and New Zealand at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, India’s off-spin great Ravichandran Ashwin echoed the thoughts of many Indian cricket fans by posting: “Where-is-deep Singh?”
The 26-year-old pacer from Punjab had bowled impressively in the high-scoring ODI series against South Africa, taking five wickets in three matches at an economy rate of 5.5 per over, even as both the pacers preferred over him in the ongoing series – Harshit Rana (ER 6.39) and Prasidh Krishna (ER 7.80) went for much more. It happened in Vadodara too. Prasidh went for 60 in his nine overs, picking two wickets, and Rana conceded 65 from his 10. In Rajkot, Prasidh took 1/49 in nine overs while Rana conceded 1/52 in 9.3 overs.Reacting to Ashwin’s post, a fan reacted, “Can’t you get it. He’s in the T20WC squad,” implying that he was probably rested. Considering that India have rested their premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah and allrounder Hardik Pandya from this series in order to keep them fresh for the T20 World Cup next month, the logic of Arshdeep being benched in order to manage his workload is not out of place.However, the argument didn’t convince Ashwin, who replied, “Resting someone shouldn’t be after he gets in the squad. Resting means he gets rested like Bumrah. The lack of continuity can impact rhythm and hence performance. This is not about how much he has played but how much he hasn’t played.”
Speaking from what he described as a “cricketer’s perspective”, Ashwin argued that Arshdeep’s record with the ball should have ensured his automatic place in the XI. “I have been in this position, so I know how it is. This is why I am fighting for Arshdeep Singh. Whenever you have given him the ball, he has performed for you. Allow him to walk into the XI with his head held high,” Ashwin added.Arshdeep came into the series in fine form, picking up a five-wicket haul (five for 34) against Sikkim and then 2/26 against Jaipur in the recently-held Vijay Hazare Trophy, but has been left bowling only in the nets in this series.Perhaps Harshit Rana is being preferred because he can deliver useful runs at the No. 8 slot, while Arshdeep is the good old-fashioned tailender. But if India want to win the series on Sunday, they must seriously look at a playing strike bowler like Arshdeep.
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