Arshdeep Singh wasn’t aware he’d get a chance to roll his arm over with a red ball before India’s Test series against the West Indies in October. He was gearing up for the Asia Cup and had started doing so as soon as India wrapped up the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which he missed out on playing because of an injured hand. But an opportunity to play in a Duleep Trophy game sprang up, which meant he was reunited with a red ball sooner than he had expected.
“In Test cricket or red-ball cricket, there is a time when the day gets boring,” Arshdeep said. “In the session after lunch, mostly the ball doesn’t do anything. So how can you enjoy that?
“I spoke to [Mohammed] Siraj and he told me that when nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket. He gave me this small tip. I really liked it.”
Playing for Northern Zone in the tournament, Arshdeep got to bowl on the second day, and did he grab the chance with both hands? Bowling 17 overs against Eastern Zone, the young pacer looked like he was trying to make up for the lost time. While he managed only one wicket, Arshdeep said he was glad his body responded well to bowling long spells, despite being out of action for almost three months.
“In the last couple of months I was with the team, I trained a lot, bowled a lot and worked a lot with the S&C [strength and conditioning],” Arshdeep said. “I worked on fitness as well and that helped me bowl a decent long spell. After 15-17 overs, my body feels well. It’s [the ball] coming out really well. Not many wickets, but yes, they will come in the future.”
Arshdeep stayed on the sidelines throughout the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and would have gotten his maiden Test cap in the fourth Test had it not been for the thumb injury he sustained during training. Being ruled out with an injury after anticipating a debut for almost a month wasn’t exactly how he had imagined his first Test call-up would go, but Arshdeep said it didn’t put him off a great deal.
“When you are not playing, you just try to push your limits. The training is almost the same,” he said. “You just put in more work when you are not playing. More overs, more strength work, more training, so that whenever you get the chance, you are ready and fully fit to go.
“I don’t know how many thousands of balls I would have bowled in practice. It’s not like there was a lack of bowling. I was properly managing my workload. The aim is to stay ready whenever you get a chance.”
Northern Zone are currently battling Eastern Zone in the quarter final of the Duleep Trophy. Even if they win, Arshdeep, like many of the Asia Cup-bound Indian players, will not stay to see how his side finishes. But what he will have to worry about is how he switches from the longest to the shortest format of the game in a matter of days. Naive as it may sound, Arshdeep believes the only difference between the formats will be the colour of the ball, and so it shouldn’t be a challenge to adapt.
“Right from the last Test [at The Oval], I had started practising with a white ball,” Arshdeep said. “I didn’t know that there was a Duleep Trophy match in between. At the end of the day, red ball, white ball or pink ball, you have to play cricket and try and enjoy it.
“I have got a chance here [at the Duleep Trophy], and will play with a white ball next [at the Asia Cup]. So the aim is to put in a lot of overs under your belt and play any format. The mindset is about how quickly you can adapt. In today’s cricket, a batsman can hit against the red ball and he can play conservatively against a white ball.
“So it’s all about how you can adapt according to the situation, according to the wicket, according to the weather, when you have to put in effort, when you have to conserve yourself.”
The Indian players will fly from their respective locations to the UAE on September 4 and will have less than a week to prepare for their first game, which begins on September 10 against the UAE.
