Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan has backed young fast bowler Arshdeep Singh to start in the five T20Is against South Africa. Arshdeep and Umran Malik are the two young pacers, who have earned debut calls in the series against the Proteas.
Arshdeep, who represented Punjab Kings (PBKS) impressed with death-overs bowling ability in IPL 2022, with one of the best economy rates in the competition. The left-arm pacer had the most number of the Yorkers in the 15th edition of the cash-rich league.
On the back of his superlative performance, Irfan Pathan has urged the team management to play him in all five games. Speaking on Star Sports, the cricketer-turned-commentator said:
“If you see the IPL numbers in terms of the wickets, the matches are more and the wickets are less, still the selectors backed him and picked him in the squad. There is a reason for that, he keeps the best batters quiet, when he bowls at the death, he keeps Dhoni, Hardik Pandya quiet, bowls consistent yorkers against the set batters.”
Irfan Pathan added:
“You picked a left-arm bowler in your squad based on some thinking, because left is always right. So play him all the matches and he is a bowler who raises his hand for his team whenever there is a difficult situation, that he will bowl the yorkers and try to pick up wickets.”
Grateful after being picked in the Indian squad – Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep’s handwork was rewarded with a debut call-up for the series against South Africa. He revealed that he was traveling with the Punjab Kings team when he received the message. The youngster expressed that he is grateful to be a part of the Indian team for the series. Speaking on NDTV, he stated:
“We were traveling in the team bus on Sunday when I got the message of being picked (in Indian T20I side), then I did not feel much on how to react as we were going for the game. Right now, I am feeling really good as congratulatory messages are still coming in and my family is also being congratulated. I am grateful after being picked in the squad.”
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