'He will be under a lot of pressure if...'- Former South Africa cricketer on Arshdeep Singh's comparison with Wasim Akram

Arshdeep Singh and Wasim Akram (Source: Twitter)

Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh has been a revelation for India in the T20I format. He has been the go-to bowler for the Men in Blue in the death overs. In a short T20I career he has shown that he can deliver the difficult overs at the end. He has picked up 10 wickets from 6 games in the recently concluded 20-20 World Cup.

Doing the hard yards has not been a first for Arshdeep as he has shown in the Indian T20 League, what he can do with the ball on a consistent basis. He debuted in the Indian T20 League in 2019 for the Punjab franchise and he made everyone sit and take notice of his craft. He has picked up 40 wickets in four seasons.

He has one five-wicket haul to his name; he has got the wickets at an average of 26.35 and he has a wonderful economy rate of 8.35 to boot. Jonty Rhodes, former South Africa player and the batting & fielding coach of Punjab said, “I think that will put him under a lot of pressure, to compare him to the great Wasim Akram,” He said to Reuters after he was appointed the mentor of the Punjab Franchise.

Arshdeep Singh puts in the hard yards - Jonty Rhodes

“You look at a Jasprit Bumrah and his progression was so quick, and Arshdeep has done the same. He is a young fast bowler, willing to learn and listen and he puts in the hard yards,” Rhodes added. 

“He does swing the ball and has been a revolution at the death. He has been great in the powerplay, has got good control and he can come around the wicket like Wasim Akram effectively,” he added. “You start to compare players to the ones who played before them, that puts them under unnecessary pressure,” Rhodes concluded.

India crashed out of the semi-finals of the 20-20 World Cup 2022 on the back of a hammering from England where they kept down to just 168-6 and then they were very poor with the ball as they failed to pick up a single wicket when Alex Hales and Jos Buttler made a record unbeaten partnership of 170.