PBKS bowling coach James Hopes backs seamer to make cut for big Test tourMUMBAI: Arshdeep Singh's fabulous performances in white-ball cricket have prompted calls for his inclusion in India's Test team as well. In IPL2025 so far, the left-arm pacer has topped the wicket-taking charts for Punjab Kings with 16 scalps in 12 matches at 21.93, playing a major role in the team making it to the IPL playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Punjab Kings bowling coach and former Australia allrounder James Hopes, for one, feels Arshdeep could be a handful in English conditions if he's picked for India's five-Test series against the hosts next month. “He's perfectly suited for English conditions. He can swing the ball both ways, he can bowl reverse swing if required. He can bowl around the wicket as a left-armer seamer and still take it away from the right-hander,” Hopes told TOI during an exclusive interaction here on Wednesday.
Who's that IPL player?Showering praise on the 24-year-old pacer — one of the leading white-ball bowlers right now with 99 wickets in 63 T20Is and 14 wickets in nine ODIs — Hopes said, “Arshdeep is highly skilled and very coachable. He's open to just trying subtle, new things. You find sometimes that guys with high skill, like he has, can be very happy in the spot they're in. But he's always wanting to expand and keeps asking, 'What if I hold the ball like this, is it a bit different?' And just trying to change subtle things, because he's been around a while now and people know what he's going to do.”
Hopes highlighted a couple of new things Arshdeep has bought onto the table in IPL2025. “The way he's swinging the ball this year is a little bit different, which has caught some players by surprise. He's still young. He's got so much cricket left. When we get to the end of his career, we'll talk about him as one of the most dominant bowlers of all time.” Hopes also said that along with Arshdeep, Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer should also be for the England tour.
“Shreyas is ready to get back into the Test arena. He's worked hard on his game over the last 12 months. He uses his hands so beautifully, which can be a real asset when you're playing in England. Both Iyer and Arshdeep should be seriously considered for the India squad,” said Hopes, who played 84 ODIs and 12 T20Is from 2005-10.
Crediting Iyer's captaincy for PBKS's successful run this season, Hopes said, “As a captain, everything he's touched has turned into gold. He's tactically very good and a world class short-form batter.”
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