Arshdeep Singh recently ranked his top five most talented Indian bowlers during a podcast interview. Surprisingly, the left-arm pacer placed former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin fifth on his list, while naming Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami as his top two picks.
The left-arm pacer was rested in the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe following India's white-ball tour of England. Arshdeep struggled with the ball during India's tour of England, where India lost both the ODI and T20I series. He featured in both formats before being given a break.
Arshdeep Singh Picks Bhuvneshwar Kumar as India's Most Talented Bowler
During a conversation with Krishnank Atrey on YouTube, Arshdeep picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin. Arshdeep admitted that he naturally prefers fast bowlers.
"Bhuvi bhai is at the top because he is my personal favourite as well. I really like him, so I'm a little biased. I'll rate all the fast bowlers first. At number two, I'd go with Shami bhai because, as you know, he can seam the ball on any wicket. His bowling is excellent, and he presents the seam perfectly."
Arshdeep placed Kuldeep Yadav at third because of his rare left-arm wrist-spin skill. He picked his Punjab Kings teammate Yuzvendra Chahal fourth, citing his outstanding wicket-taking record, and Ravichandran Ashwin in fifth place.
"Third would be Kuldeep Yadav because he has a very rare skill set, a left-arm Chinaman. Then there's Yuzi bhai, as we are teammates in the Punjab team, and his record is also excellent. He has taken so many wickets. I wouldn't want to rate Ash bhai at last, but there were no positions left, so he comes in at number five. He is a great, but Ash bhai was also my first captain in the IPL, Punjab. Sorry, Ash bhai, I'll personally message you."
Arshdeep Singh Leaves Out Kapil Dev From His All-Time India XI
During the same podcast, Arshdeep Singh picked his all-time India playing XI. He included himself in the bowling attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah, Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan Singh. He excluded legendary spinner Anil Kumble from his lineup.
Arshdeep also left 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev out of the side. He picked Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir as the opening pair, with Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, and Rohit Sharma forming the middle order.
Here’s Arshdeep Singh’s all-format India XI: Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh.
Arshdeep Singh Looking to Bounce Back After Tough England Tour
Arshdeep Singh was rested for India's three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe after the tour of England. He played in both the T20I and ODI series, where India struggled in white-ball cricket.
With Jasprit Bumrah unavailable for the ODI series decider at Lord's because of injury, Arshdeep was included in the playing XI. However, he had a difficult outing, finishing with figures of 0/72 as India lost the match by 27 runs.
England won the T20I series 4-0 before taking the ODI series 2-1. Arshdeep finished as India's leading wicket-taker in the T20Is with four wickets in four matches, but he conceded runs at an economy rate of 9.47.
Before the England tour, Arshdeep also played a two-match T20I series against Ireland. He picked up four wickets but his economy rate was 12 runs per over.
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