Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has said that pacer Arshdeep Singh can swing the ball both ways, making it challenging for the batters. He added that his skill set can be impactful in red-ball cricket.
Arshdeep was the standout performer for the Men in Blue, registering figures of 4/70 from his 10 overs as New Zealand were bowled out for 185 in 40.2 overs in Auckland on Wednesday. The visitors chased down the revised target of 143 in 22.4 overs, with five wickets in hand.
During a post-match review on Sony Sports, Gavaskar was asked to opine on Arshdeep’s ability to swing the ball.
“He can swing the ball both ways, inswing and outswing. That creates doubt for batters about which ball is coming. His length today was excellent. The line was good in any case,” Gavaskar said.
“He was making the right-handed batters play across the line from middle and off-stump. An odd ball was coming in as well. I have been watching him for the last two or three years, and he should be looked at even for Test matches. If he is moving the white ball so much, how much will he swing the red ball?”
Ajinkya Rahane also wants the selectors to include the seamer in the Test squad. In 104 T20Is, he has taken 151 wickets. On the other hand, he has dismissed 34 batters in 19 ODIs.
“He should definitely get a chance. The way he moves the white ball, inswing and outswing, the skill and wicket-taking ability he has, he has that with the red ball as well,” former Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane said.
“A left-arm pacer also creates a different angle. If you have a spinner, a different footmark gets created. So, Arshdeep has that skill to bowl with the red ball,” Rahane added.
Despite bowling well in white-ball cricket, Arshdeep is yet to play a Test match.