Ricky Ponting has urged the Indian team management to have Arshdeep Singh in the lineup from the start of the England tour as he feels the left-arm pacer can make a difference in those conditions. Arshdeep, who had been knocking on the door for a Test call-up, finally got his wish when he was one of the new faces in the squad for the upcoming England tour.
Arshdeep has also done well in the IPL 2025 season, where he has picked up 18 wickets from 14 matches. Speaking to the ICC review, the PBKS coach said that the pacer is a great character to have around the team and is laid back around the group.
“I’ve had a good chance to get to know him really well. He’s a great character to have around the team,” Ponting said of Arshdeep. “He’s a fun-loving guy. He’s very laid-back around the group, which is great. Which is what we all like.”
“As soon as the squad was announced the other day, the Test squad, the first thing I did in our team meeting was to make sure that I acknowledged that Arshdeep had been picked in front of everybody and just congratulated him in front of everybody. I think it’s well deserved. I think he’ll bowl well in England as well.”
Ponting feels that Arshdeep could do well with the Dukes ball in the UK and having a left-arm pacer could be the point of difference for the Indian team.
“I would actually have him in their Test team at the start. He’s very skillful,” Ponting noted.
“I think the Dukes ball will help him in the UK as well. And I just think to have that point of difference, having a left-armer in your team, I think will be something that, if India don’t do it then it’ll be a bit of a surprise to me.”
“He’s played county cricket and he knows the conditions there as well,” Ponting noted.
Ponting said that with Arshdeep’s physical frame, he will get bounce and swing in England and it should be something India should definitely look out for during the tour.
“Arshdeep is close to six-foot-four, so he’s going to get decent bounce…as we know in England the ball still swings when it is 30, 40 or 50 overs old.”
“To have someone that’s got that swing bowling ability and a left-armer I think is something that the Indian team should definitely look out for on that tour.”
India’s tour of England will start on June 20.
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