Former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey explains why Jaydev Unadkat was preferred over young Arshdeep Singh for Test series vs Bangladesh

Left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh played a pivotal role in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph by becoming the joint-most wicket-taker of the tournament. After winning his first ICC trophy, Arshdeep has expressed his desire to don the white jersey for India. The 25-year-old is close to making his Test debut as per India’s outgoing bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. He explained the reason why an experienced campaigner in domestic cricket, Jaydev Unadkat, was preferred in the Test series against Bangladesh and Arshdeep was not fastracked to red-ball cricket. 
 

“You can see his potential in T20s and the idea was to make him a regular in the format and then make the progression to ODIs. We wanted him to play as much first-class cricket as possible just to get control over his skillset. To consistently execute your skills, you need to play Ranji Trophy. Play a full season and you will automatically get the control. It will test everything,” Mhambrey told Indian Express. 
 

 

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Mhambrey said that the County opportunity for Arshdeep came just in time for him. Team India needed a left-arm seamer and that’s why Unadkat was brought back into the side after a long hiatus. However, he remained wicketless on his return.
 

"When he got a County opportunity, we sent him because we needed a left-arm seamer to make the attack rounded. That is why we even brought in Jaydev Unadkat. Since Zak (Zaheer Khan) retired, we haven’t had a left-arm pacer making a Test debut. And unless he plays red-ball cricket, Arshdeep can’t get there. 
 

“He is very keen to play all formats. That is the reason we sent him, to assess where he stood in terms of fitness and skill level. County cricket isn’t easy and as we expected, he came back as a different bowler,” he added.
 

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Arshdeep to make Test debut in Australia?

However, the 52-year-old feels that that Arshdeep may get his maiden Test callup for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia scheduled to start in November 2024.
 

“It depends on the conditions. Maybe in Australia, if we play four seamers he has a chance. To get one in India will be very difficult at the moment. He has the swing that works for him. It is about maintaining fitness and working on it. At the moment he may not be a starter in Tests but he isn’t far away” said Mhambrey whose tenure as bowling coach ended with T20 World Cup 2024.
 

Arshdeep’s First-Class numbers

So far, the 25-year-old has played 16 First-Class matches. He has 49 wickets at an average of 31.97. He has only one fifer to his name in the format. His last First-Class appearance was against Gujarat in Ranji Trophy 2022-23 where he bagged four wickets.
 

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