It was close to 11 pm at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. India had outclassed Zimbabwe in a must-win Super 8 clash, piling up 256 runs. But by the time Arshdeep Singh walked into the mixed zone, the adrenaline had faded and the stadium had nearly emptied. Yet, at the sight of him, the tired faces in the press box lit up.
The scribes knew they would not be short of headlines after an interaction with Arshdeep. The left-arm fast bowler rarely disappoints.
“Up-down ho hi ja raha tha,” Arshdeep said, describing the mood in his hotel room as he watched South Africa’s Super 8 game against the West Indies with his father. In his inimitable style, he recalled having to calm his father down as he cursed the West Indies batters for hitting boundaries.
India needed a South African win that afternoon, and the West Indies had made it an anxious watch for fans. Even as spectators walked into Chepauk for India’s evening game, many were still refreshing scorecards on their phones.
It ended well. South Africa did India a favour. India then did what they had to, brushing Zimbabwe aside.
Arshdeep brings a distinct Gen Z energy to the dressing room. The 27-year-old Punjab pacer doesn’t shy away from going slapstick on Instagram. Off the field, he is all fun and frolic. On the field, you see another shade of the man altogether. Fierce and focused. We saw it in the T20 World Cup 2024 final, where he conceded just four runs in the 19th over when South Africa needed 20 off 12.
Sometimes, fans expect professional athletes to carry themselves with a certain stoicism. If you are outgoing and you happen to fail, you are prone to criticism that is, most of the time, unwarranted. Why can’t a 27-year-old cricketer have fun shooting reels? Why can’t he have fun shooting reels with Virat Kohli?
Arshdeep knows exactly what he is doing.
“I just try to keep the dressing room atmosphere light. Youngsters and even the seniors are looking to enjoy the game,” he said.
“A lot of cricket is being played. Players tend to become serious because of the uncertainty of the sport. But it is important to enjoy every moment. We don’t spend much time with our families. We are always traveling. So, we try to create that feeling of a family within the team. My motto is to keep the dressing room environment chill.”
THE RAPID RISE
If you ask pundits or fans to name the top three T20I bowlers in the world, they might not name Arshdeep off the top of their heads. His numbers, however, tell a different story.
In the four years since his debut, Arshdeep Singh has raced to become India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. Since his debut, no bowler from a Test-playing nation has taken 100 wickets. Arshdeep has 126 in that period. He is already the joint-highest wicket-taker for India in T20 World Cups, having gone level with Jasprit Bumrah, his favourite senior bowling partner.
Does he feel he has graduated from being a junior to a senior in the team, or at least in the circuit?
“If you talk about youngsters, only batters are younger than me in this group. I am the youngest in the bowling group. I am still learning from there,” he said, drawing laughter from the room.
THE GRIND BEHIND IT
Arshdeep is omnipresent in India’s training sessions. He begins by steaming into the pace-bowlers’ nets, but he always ensures he fights for time with the bat. At Chepauk, two days before the Zimbabwe game, Arshdeep was a man possessed. Not with the ball, but with the bat, making the most of uninterrupted time. He smashed a string of net bowlers into the stands, flaunting his ability to hit the big ones. India trained for nearly four hours that day; Arshdeep spent close to an hour batting.
The work ethic is visible. The intelligence is subtler.
It does not always show in his social media persona, but Arshdeep possesses a sharp understanding of the game. He has developed a knack for stepping up in decisive moments, something the team management values deeply. In just his fifth year in international cricket, he has become an all-phase bowler, trusted with the new ball, the middle overs, and the death.
READY TO DO THE DIRTY JOB
His ability to remain present stands out.
Against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, in another must-win Super 8 fixture, Arshdeep conceded 37 runs in his first three overs. Yet, captain Suryakumar Yadav handed him the 19th over. West Indies were 175 for 4 after 18 overs, with momentum firmly on their side.
Arshdeep responded with calm authority, conceding just six runs. West Indies finished on 195, falling short of what once seemed inevitable. It was not a moment that dominated headlines, but it shaped the match. India chased the target in 19.2 overs, powered by a Sanju Samson masterclass.
It is not an easy time to be a bowler in T20 cricket. Flatter pitches, shorter boundaries and heavier bats have tilted the balance sharply towards batters. Totals once considered extraordinary have become routine.
Take India, for instance. Since the end of the 2024 T20 World Cup, they have crossed the 200-run mark 21 times in just two years. Before that, from the advent of T20Is until the 2024 World Cup, they had reached 200 only 33 times. But the shift has come with a cost. India have conceded 200-plus totals seven times in this period, compared to 15 instances across all the years before that.
Batters have flourished. Bowlers have endured.
Arshdeep, though, sees it differently.
“As long as our batters are happy scoring runs, we are happy,” he said. “Even if we get hit after they have scored big, it doesn’t matter. Our batters pile on the runs and we try to defend it. As long as they are able to play freely, we are happy to do the dirty job.
“First, we enjoy their batting. Then we try to defend the total.”
He knows what awaits him now. The difficult overs. The uncomfortable moments. Having Bumrah helps, but the scrutiny on everyone else remains relentless.
Yet beneath the responsibility, the core remains unchanged. He is still the boy who dared to dream.
“I am enjoying this. As a youngster, I always dreamt of playing for India. When you get opportunities in the World Cup and the team trusts you to bowl in the powerplay and at the death, it means a lot.
“I want to be consistent. I am working on that with Morne Morkel. I have wonderful partners in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya.”
His mantra is simple.
“You can’t control whether you get wickets or not. What you can control is how you bowl. So you keep working.”
With eight wickets in six matches in this World Cup, Arshdeep is once again flying under the radar.
People will continue to see two versions of him. The boy who laughs. The bowler who endures. Arshdeep knows they are the same person.
In the chaos of the modern game, he is perfectly content being both.
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