Alongside arshdeep singh: Cricket News & Match Updates

T20 World Cup: After defeats in Ireland and England laid bare the issues with its understrength bowling unit, including severe injury setbacks to key personnel, current T20 World Cup holders India finally found its cutting edge with the ball, setting the foundation for a clinical seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the T20I series opener at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

Jasprit Bumrah’s impactful return from a left knee injury instantly restored bite to the frontline pace attack, as he removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a duck to trigger an early Afghanistani collapse. Alongside Arshdeep Singh’s standout 3-19 and a frugal stump-to-stump leash from spin duo Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy, who picked a scalp each.

It also meant that, apart from pace bowling being lightweight, India got better returns from its spinners, an area that hurt the three-time T20 World Cup winners on the trip to the United Kingdom. What would concern India, though, was the fifth-bowler quota, shared between Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube, who conceded 59 runs at an economy rate of 14.75.   Read More...