Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has praised the pace bowling duo of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj after India claimed a 29-run win against the USA in their opening clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Saturday.
Siraj returned with figures of 3-29 in his quota of four overs after making a comeback into the team. The right-arm pacer was returning to the T20I setup after 19 months. Siraj was added to the squad after Harshit Rana was ruled out of the tournament and got a chance in the starting XI after Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t well.
On the other hand, Arshdeep Singh returned with impressive figures of 2-18 in his quota of four overs. Singh accounted for the USA captain, Monank Patel and Mohammad Mohsin.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube Channel, “What can I say about dream script? If you remember the 2023 World Cup, I was prepared to do some other work before that tournament. Some people had also called me for a commentary stint. My name was announced in the squad and fate plays a role. If any injury occurs during World Cup, they will always turn to experience because pressure situations are abundant. It is always better to have people who have been there and done it. That’s why selectors turned to Siraj and he has been in fine form. He bowled well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was in bowling rhythm. He got the conditions to bowl in. Siraj was a touch rusty initially but was able to come right back in the game after taking a wicket.”
Ashwin said Arshdeep Singh also deserves all the praise for the team’s success.
“Arshdeep Singh deserves all the praise in the world. The way his attitude is and how he keeps coming back. Andries Gous plays in plenty of franchise leagues and has been in fine form. With Mohammed Siraj conceding a six against him, I was thinking his wicket is crucial and we got that. The way Gous got out by playing the cover drive, it was a lucky break for Siraj. You do need luck for this. Gous had middled that drive and Tilak Varma caught that. It could have been a boundary.”
Ashwin concluded, “Arshdeep first bowled an inswinger to Gous and then took the ball away. That’s a skill not many bowlers have. Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have bowled that way. We know how well Arshdeep executes his yorkers at the death. Even against USA, he bowled well up front and in the end. He delivered as expected and hopefully, Bumrah is back in the next game because we need our full bowling attack. I was expecting such a contest in the ICC World Cups. That’s why India needed all their best bowlers – Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Axar Patel and Arshdeep.”
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.
