Arshdeep Singh reveals how Kent stint helped him evolve as a bowler

Arshdeep Singh, India’s unsung hero in the team’s triumph in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean & USA, has revealed that his red-ball stint with Kent last year helped him not just evolve as a bowler but also discover his own strengths.

Arshdeep, in 2023, played a total of five matches for Kent in Division 1 of the County Championship. The left-armer took a total of 13 wickets, but bowling on some really flat pitches meant that his figures took a beating, with his average reading 41.76. 

But in a chat with Sportstar, the 25-year-old revealed that the stint with Kent helped him understand how effective length balls can be, a learning that eventually aided him big time in the T20 World Cup last month.

“Before the Kent stint, I was playing a lot of T20 cricket. When you are playing just T20s, you often tend to use a lot of variations, but once I went to Kent, I bowled a lot of long spells there and got to know how effective length ball can be, and those things helped me big time,” Arshdeep told Sportstar.

“Earlier, whenever a batter went after me, I would rely on yorkers or a slow ball, but the Kent stint helped me bowl a lot of length deliveries as well. It made me believe that if I bowl at a good length, it won’t be easy for a batter to score easy runs.

“After the Kent stint, I played ODIs in South Africa and I got good results for hitting those hard lengths and got the ball to move around a bit. A lot of credit goes to the BCCI as well, who pushed me to take up the county stint and that helped me improve my skills with the red ball as well.”

Arshdeep is a regular for India in T20Is, and has also already made six appearances in ODIs. But he is still far away from Test selection, mostly due to his lack of experience in first-class cricket, with him having just made 16 FC appearances.

But the 26-year-old made it clear that his ultimate dream is to don the whites and play Test cricket for India some day.

“Growing up, you always dream of playing (in Tests) for the country. Winning a World Cup is also a target that a youngster sets for himself. I do dream of donning the whites and bowling with that red cherry. 

“I want to play all three formats, and whenever I have spoken to Jassi bhai, he has told me, “ Tere ko tin ho format khelna hai. White ball khelega toh achha hai, but jab tu red ball khelega (You have to play all three formats. Playing white ball is good, but when you play red ball), you can create a legacy…” 

“He has always motivated me to focus on red ball cricket as well. During most of our conversations, Jassi bhai asks me, “ tujhe khelna hai red ball?” and I always tell him that I am very eager to start my red ball journey with the Indian team and prove myself on that front, too.”

Arshdeep also revealed how Bumrah mentored him during the T20WC, specifically helping him with field placements.

“During the match against Afghanistan, the ball was reversing a lot, so he [Bumrah] suggested a few field placements accordingly. But I thought otherwise, and suggested a different field setting. 

“He told me calmly, “ tu mujh pe bharosa kar (you should have faith in me), and send the fielder to where I am suggesting…” I listened to him and bowled in the right areas. As luck would have it, we got an edge and the ball went straight to the fielder, and then, Jassi bhai walked up to me with a smile and said, “ Dekha na! Tu mujh pe bharosa rakh and bowl your best…(see, you should have faith in me...).”

Arshdeep, like many of his teammates, is someone who has come through the ranks successfully, having made ripples in age group cricket before translating the success into top level cricket.

The left-armer revealed that senior cricket is different gravy, and credited Rahul Dravid for helping him transition from U19 level to senior cricket. Arshdeep was part of the 2017 India U19 squad that won the U19 World Cup. Incidentally, that team was coached by none other than Dravid.

“When you play the U-19 World Cup, you feel that you are at the top of your game, but in reality, that’s just a stepping stone. Real cricket starts when you play senior cricket, and that is a test of character and patience,” Arshdeep revealed. 

“Unlike U-19 cricket, there’s hardly any room for errors in the senior category and it is important to plan things well if you want to grab wickets and trouble the batters. There are also days when you may not claim a wicket despite putting in the hard yards, so it’s important to be mentally strong.

“A lot of the credit goes to Rahul (Dravid) sir as he tracked my journey since the U-19 days and that helped me a lot. With him around, it has been relatively easier for me to make the transition from the U-19 to the senior level. Since he had known me for a long time, it was easy to interact with him and he was aware of my skill set and my limitations.”

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