‘Body is sore’: Arshdeep Singh relishes rare red-ball opportunity

Arshdeep Singh is determined to establish himself as a three-format international, and his latest Duleep Trophy outing offered a valuable opportunity to prove his red-ball credentials.

The India fast bowler, who has represented the country in 18 ODIs and 91 T20Is, is still awaiting his Test debut. His demanding white-ball schedule has limited his opportunities in first-class cricket, with a year passing between his 22nd and 23rd first-class appearances.

Arshdeep made the most of his chance in the 2026 Duleep Trophy quarter-final, taking 3 for 53 and 1 for 40 as North Zone defeated West Zone by 52 runs at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

“Very rarely I get the chance to play red-ball cricket. And this was a chance,” Arshdeep said after the match. “I wanted to showcase my skill set and just see how many overs I can bowl. The rhythm feels nice. After a long time, I was playing a red-ball game. I put in a lot of hours in practice and it felt nice. The body is sore, but it’s a good sore because we got the win.”

Red-ball preparation

With red-ball cricket making a rare appearance on his schedule, Arshdeep had adjusted his training accordingly. He said his preparation depends largely on the format coming up next.

“When white-ball season is coming, then you practise with the white ball. It’s very specific training based on what kind of season is coming in front of you,” he explained.

North Zone head coach Ajay Sharma also reminded Arshdeep of one of the key advantages of Test and first-class cricket — the opportunity to recover from an unproductive spell.

“Even if you don’t get wickets with the new ball, you have a chance to come back in the second spell,” Sharma told him, according to Arshdeep. “Red ball has that beauty of giving you a chance again.”

Arshdeep has previous experience of county cricket, having played five County Championship matches for Kent in 2023. However, a packed Indian cricket calendar has made another stint in England difficult.

The message from the BCCI, he said, has been simple: perform wherever possible in red-ball cricket and wait for the right opportunity.

Tactical change brings Musheer’s wicket

The Bengaluru pitch offered little assistance to the seamers, with spinners dominating proceedings. Arshdeep therefore had to rely on tactics and variation rather than conventional movement off the surface.

His most notable moment came when he dismissed Musheer Khan in the first innings.

Musheer had frustrated North Zone with a defensive 31 off 125 balls. Arshdeep then switched to around the wicket and surrounded the batter with an attacking off-side field, including a wide slip, gully, short mid-off, short cover and cover.

The tactic worked. Arshdeep bowled a fuller delivery that generated extra bounce, and Musheer edged it.

“There was nothing for seamers in that wicket,” Arshdeep said. “I just wanted to play with his mind. He was playing very defensively, so we wanted the fielders to be in front of his eyes and let him think that we’re doing something different.”

Arshdeep stressed that his approach changes according to the conditions.

“When you have purchase from the wicket, when they seam, when they swing, that’s when you stay patient and just keep hitting lengths. When it’s a different wicket, when there’s nothing off the pitch and just variable bounce, you’ve got to play with the field and try out different things.”

North Zone hold their nerve

The match appeared to be slipping away from North Zone when Musheer and Ruturaj Gaikwad put together a 111-run partnership for the fourth wicket during West Zone’s chase of 287.

Arshdeep admitted that he briefly feared the contest was heading away from his team.

“Then I was thinking, ‘Sher-e-Punjab, time to go back home’, and what time ticket should I get booked,” he joked.

But the game changed dramatically after Gaikwad was run out in the 45th over following sharp work from North Zone wicketkeeper and captain Kanhaiya Wadhawan.

West Zone collapsed from 195 for 3 to 222 all out, handing North Zone a 52-run victory.

Arshdeep credited Wadhawan’s alertness for the turning point and said the team remained confident that breaking the partnership could open the door to a collapse.

“We always knew that whenever the partnership gets broken, there’s always a chance when a new batter comes in. We wanted to stay in the game, just be patient, and that wicket came and after that it changed.”

For Arshdeep, the quarter-final was more than just another domestic match. With a Test debut still on his international ambitions, the rare chance to bowl long spells and adapt to red-ball conditions could prove an important step in his development as a three-format cricketer.