He's just a basic bowler: Aaqib Javed slams Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh in action (PC: Twitter)

Young Indian seamer Arshdeep Singh had a mixed Asia Cup 2022. The 23-year-old was widely appreciated for his bowling, especially in the death overs. In five games, he picked as many wickets. However, Arshdeep’s poor fielding made him a victim of trolling and criticism. In the Super Four match against Pakistan, the seamer dropped a crucial catch in the penultimate over.

The sloppy fielding played a major role in India’s defeat by five wickets. However, the team management lauded Arshdeep’s toe-crushing yorkers and brilliant bowling by awarding him a place in the Indian squad for the T20I World Cup. Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed seemed disappointed with the young rookie’s inclusion.

Javed criticises Arshdeep’s bowling

The veteran believes that Arshdeep is a basic bowler and doesn't have any x-factor that can rattle the opposition batters. Javed claimed that the youngster doesn’t have any trademark weapon and no opposition will worry about playing such a bowler in the World Cup. He further gave examples of how Jasprit Bumrah has mastered yorkers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar has swing and Hardik Pandya has lethal bouncers.

In a conversation with Sports PakTV, Javed added:

“He's just a basic bowler. In T20s, you either need a bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar who can swing, or you should have pace. Or, you should be tall enough to throw in those bouncers. You need to have a trademark. When you see the bowlers around the world, you notice that.

“For example, Bumrah just darts in the yorkers with perfection. Hardik Pandya's bouncers are quite lethal. Shaheen has a great swing and Haris has a great pace. So, Arshdeep is.. just like any other bowler. He doesn't really have a trademark. The opposition doesn't even think about bowlers like him.”

A glance at Arshdeep’s career

The 23-year-old pacer rose to fame with his exceptional performance in the Indian Premier League for Punjab Kings. He has a whopping 40 IPL wickets to his name at an average of 26.4 and an economy rate of 8.35.

Meanwhile, the pacer is enjoying a purple patch in the blue jersey as well. He has scalped a total of 14 wickets so far from 11 games at an economy rate of 7.38 and an average of 20.1.

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