Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes Arshdeep Singh has overtaken Avesh Khan in the cat-and-mouse race for the T20 World Cup selection. Singh has impressed with his performances while bowling in the middle and death overs.
The left-arm pacer, who adds more variety to the bowling attack, has been bowling accurately and has impressed with his ability to nail the yorkers. Singh scalped seven wickets in five T20Is against West Indies and he was awarded the Player of the series.
The Punjab fast bowler has bowled with an economy rate of 6.58 and he is mostly right on the money.
On the other hand, Avesh Khan has also done a decent job for India and bagged the Player of the Match award in the fourth T20I against the West Indies after taking two wickets. However, Khan could be a bit expensive in his spells and doesn’t seem to have the same control that Singh has in his bowling.
However, both of these players are still very young in their respective careers and they are expected to get better with experience.
“There is actually a nice race going on for that flight to Australia to get that seat in business class. You know these guys travel business class. We used to be in economy, so I say that very sort of grudgingly. So, a race going on to clamour to get those seats on business class to Australia. And that’s where I think you would have to say Arshdeep Singh has overtaken Avesh Khan,” said Manjrekar on Sports 18 show Sports over the top.
“Avesh Khan is slightly behind there and that is something that’s very interesting. You know this is a real competition going on for spots. Arshdeep Singh has certainly taken a little lead over Avesh Khan because he’s doing exactly what is what Avesh Khan’s role is – to go with the new ball in the middle and in the death as well,” said Manjrekar.
Arshdeep Singh had bowled with an economy rate of 7.70 in 14 matches while playing for Punjab Kings in IPL 2022. Thus, he had received his maiden call-up for the series against South Africa but made his debut against England and took two wickets to have a dream maiden International match.
The left-hander is making the right noises after playing his debut match and he could play a huge role in India’s T20 World Cup campaign. Singh will be seen in action in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe. The first ODI will be played at Harare on 18th August.
