IND vs IRE: Has Lost That Sting In His Repertoire Saba Karim Raises Concerns Over Arshdeep Singh

Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim expressed his concerns over the form of Arshdeep Singh. He said that whatever the left-arm pacer used to do earlier he’s not able to replicate that and is bowling short of length deliveries, which isn’t his natural length. 

Arshdeep Singh’s bowling has been one of the talking points since the last few series. The India pacer has been bowling well in patches but also has been leaking a lot of runs in the last overs, which has been costing the team a lot as well in the crucial games. 

After having on and off series against West Indies, he didn’t have a great outing in the recently concluded first T20I against Ireland. He bowled good first few overs with the new ball but was taken to the cleaners in the last few overs, which helped the opposition post a fighting total after a forgetful start. 

Arshdeep Singh conceded 11 runs in the first two overs and followed it up with the wicket of Curtis Campher in his third over. But the last over that he bowled was something that changed the course of the game as he gave away 21 runs in the 20th over. 

Saba Karim feels that Arshdeep Singh isn’t able to bring the ball into the batters like he used to do earlier. While citing the examples of Shaheen Afridi and Mitchell Starc, he pointed out that it’s important for him to generate swing.

Speaking to Jio Cinema, he explained: “One matter of concern for me is Arshdeep Singh. He had an up-and-down series against West Indies. Here also, I just feel that as a left-arm seamer, it’s very important for the ball to come into the right-hander, especially with the new ball. Whatever I’ve seen in the past, especially with the West Indies series, he’s not able to do that. 

“The reason why Shaheen Afridi or Mitchell Starc are so important for their respective teams is that their ability to pick wickets with the new ball and bend the ball back into the right-hander.

“Somehow, in the last one season, he has lost that sting in his repertoire. I hope the bowling coach works really hard with Arshdeep to generate that swing in his delivery, because that adds to your ability to pick wickets on the new ball.”

IND vs IRE: We are looking at him as a regular T20 bowler – Saba Karim 

Saba Karim further pointed out that Arshdeep is relying on the variations and is forgetting the basics. He highlighted that the pacer needs to improve as he’s a regular T20 bowler.

He explained: “He’s relying on his variation, he’s bowling short of a length. That’s not his length at all. It is up and get it into the right-hander. We are looking at him as a regular T20 bowler, he is also picked for the Asian Games.” 

Arshdeep Singh will be next seen in action when India will take on Ireland in the second match on Sunday (20th August).