Arshdeep Singh isn’t just another name in India’s T20 fast-bowling queue; he is the pressure specialist, the left-arm asset teams beg the universe for, the man who owns the death overs with ice-cold precision. Yet today, he sits on the outside, watching others audition for a role he perfected long ago.
The Confusing Selection Signals
How did India arrive at a point where a proven T20 wicket-bank is now left with just one option - consider playing domestic cricket in order to strengthen his batting, and maybe then return to Team India.
When Hardik Pandya got injured during the Asia Cup, and yet Shivam Dube was used as a second seamer, it looked like a strategy. Fair enough. But when the same pattern repeats without cricketing logic, eyebrows rise.
And now, even against Australia, Arshdeep can’t find a spot. Nothing against Harshit Rana, but the optics suggest there’s something deeper behind Arshdeep’s exclusion.
Sure, all-rounders are an asset, but not at the cost of elite wicket-taking ability. And Arshdeep is not merely good, he’s historic.
Numbers Don’t Lie
We’re not talking about just another pacer. We’re talking about India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, a member of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, a bowler who, despite playing fewer T20Is among India's top 5 wicket takers, is the only one to reach the 100-wicket club.
Even a new coach, new philosophy and rotation haven’t dimmed his numbers. Since Gautam Gambhir took over, India has played 23 T20Is, and Arshdeep has missed 10 of them. And still, in the 13 T20Is he did play, he picked 22 wickets, without going wicketless even once. That’s not consistency, that’s elite reliability. That’s game-changing impact.
When a bowler delivers every single time when he dons India's blue, his value shouldn’t be questioned because he doesn’t bat like a No.7. The conversation should be about how fast he returns to lead the attack.
There’s only one fear: in chasing batting depth, India might lose a generational death-bowling talent. India’s all-rounder obsession makes sense in modern T20 cricket. But diamonds don’t grow on trees. And Arshdeep isn’t a project; he’s a finished product. A proven weapon. Ignore him long enough, and you don’t just lose a bowler, you lose a match-winner.
