Irfan Pathan wants to see Arshdeep Singh feature prominently against South Africa

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his admiration for Arshdeep Singh’s abilities and has backed wants to see him represent Team India in all of the five T20I matches in the upcoming series against South Africa. Arshdeep’s consistent ability to nail his opponents in the death overs gives him a unique edge and he could prove to be a vital asset for India.

The Punjab Kings pace bowler has been included in the Indian squad for the first time after he was picked in the T20I squad which is set to begin on June 9. The 23-year-old’s mesmerizing and consistent performances with Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League saw him getting his fair share of the limelight he deserves.

The numbers may not suggest all that – 10 wickets in 14 matches – but there’s no doubt that Arshdeep was arguably the most important bowler for PBKS in IPL 2022 and often overshadowed bowlers of international and world-class quality like Kagiso Rabada. It’s his accuracy to bowl yorkers in the death overs and manage to keep the ball outside the opposition batsman’s hitting arc that makes him so indispensable in the shortest format of the sport.

During a discussion on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Irfan Pathan heaped praise on Arshdeep Singh’s exceptional death bowling prowess during IPL 2022, which managed to keep even big guns like MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya quiet.

“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.

“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,” he further added.

Arshdeep Singh was tied with Jasprit Bumrah with the most yorkers bowled in IPL 2022 – 38. He is among five Indian pacers picked for the T20 series against South Africa where Team India could look to experiment.