Arshdeep Singh: Potent wicket-taker – overall, in PP & at the death – in T20Is since his debut

Arshdeep Singh has become Team India’s reliable T20I bowler since debut, striking in powerplay and death overs, making him a consistent wicket-taking threat.

In the era of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh has probably not got his due in T20Is. Since Arshdeep made his T20I debut in July 2022, no other India bowler has taken more wickets. 

In fact, in three years, Arshdeep has become the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is with 99 scalps in 63 matches. Bumrah is behind in the race with 89 wickets in 70 T20Is since making his T20I debut in 2016.

Top wicket-takers for India in T20Is

Arshdeep tops powerplay and death overs
But Arshdeep’s greatness cannot be based just on these numbers alone. A look at his performance in the powerplay and death overs show he has gone ahead of all players among Test-playing nations. 

Here are the top three Test-playing nations’ wicket-takers in powerplay (overs 1 to 6) in T20Is since Arshdeep made his debut in July 2022.

Here are the top three Test-playing nations’ wicket-takers in death overs in T20Is since Arshdeep made his debut in July 2022.

It shows how Arshdeep is head and shoulders above the rest in terms of success in both powerplay and death overs – the two most critical phases of a T20I game.

Read More: Arshdeep Singh: A ‘work in progress’ in red-ball cricket?

Arshdeep contributes heavily in victories
Arshdeep’s contribution in victories is around 84% of his total wickets in T20Is. It implies whenever Arshdeep performs, India’s chances of winning the game increases. Here’s how Arshdeep stands in terms of performances in victories and defeats.

What makes Arshdeep such a lethal force in T20Is?

Left-arm bowling with varied angles 
Being a left-handed bowler, Arshdeep uses the angles that come with it judiciously. He gets the ball to move away from the hitting arc of the right-handed batters, and also consistently gets the ball into them, making it difficult for the batters to read the movements of the ball. 

Arshdeep also bowls a disciplined line and length bowling. His good length balls are difficult to hit fours and sixes or even knock it around for singles or twos. Hence, Arshdeep brings in a lot of dot balls into play, and piles pressure on batters to go for release shots, and lose their wickets. 

Therefore, Arshdeep’s success in powerplay and death overs is no surprise as batters generally look to maximise the run-making, but find it difficult to get going against Arshdeep.

Read More: Who will lead India’s bowling attack after Jasprit Bumrah leaves the scene

Bumrah by his side
Arshdeep should consider himself lucky for bowling with a bowler who is a legend across formats. Arshdeep partners Jasprit Bumrah as new-ball bowlers in T20Is. Bumrah is a master craftsman in terms of bowling in T20Is, his hard lengths and yorkers complement Arshdeep’s swing bowling. 

Hence, there is no escape for batters. If Bumrah does not get the batter out, Arshdeep will. The duo hunting in pairs has seen Arshdeep being the most fortunate one, running away with the top spot in wicket-takers’ list for India.

Top bowling spells by Arshdeep Singh in T20Is

Arshdeep’s 3/32 as India beat South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram, 2022
The ground offered good movements off the pitch. Arshdeep Singh made the most of it. Bowling his first over of the spell – the second of the innings – he took three wickets to kill the game there itself. 

He first got Quinton de Kock to an inside edge onto his stumps off the first ball of the second over. Rilee Rossouw went for a golden duck as he edged behind after driving expansively to the ball moving away from him. In the next ball, David Miller got an inswinger and saw his stumps shattered. Arshdeep’s first over of the game read 1-0-7-3.

Read More: India’s bowlers have taken 185 wickets in middle overs (7-15) in T20Is post T20 World Cup 2022

Arshdeep’s 4/9 against USA in 2024 World T20
It was another of Arshdeep’s powerplay brilliance. He got two wickets in the first over of USA’s innings to break the back of the opponents. 

Arshdeep bowled an inswinger off the first ball of the match, and USA opener Shayan Jahangir could not do much as he was plumb in front of wicket. Andries Gous fell on the last ball of the over, pulling a hard-length ball to mid-off. Arshdeep bagged two more wickets at the death to end with 4/9 with 17 dot balls.

Arshdeep’s 2/20 against South Africa in 2024 World T20
Not much is talked about Arshdeep’s contribution in the winning final of the 2024 World T20. He first got Aiden Markram to edge behind off a widish delivery. Later, he trapped de Kock to throw his wicket away, after an expansive pull saw it sucked into Kuldeep Yadav’s hands in the deep. 

However, the best contribution of Arshdeep was the 19^th over he bowled where he gave away just four runs to help India defend 16 runs in the last over. 

The way ahead
Arshdeep is just 26 years old, and has a long career ahead of him not only in T20Is, but also in Test cricket and ODIs. He is a skilled bowler, who has mastered bowling in the shortest format. However, his potential is still untapped, as he could be a good resourceful bowler in the other two formats as well. India should not relegate Arshdeep to one-format bowler, and instead give him a chance to shine in the longer version of the game, where his left-arm bowling could add variety to the attack, and pose more questions to the opponents.

Read More: Numerical story of India’s batting dominance in T20Is post T20 WC 2022