“Maybe in Australia if we play four seamers, he has a chance”- Paras Mhambrey on Arshdeep Singh’s potential Test debut

Departing India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey reckons Arshdeep Singh could make his Test debut if India decides to play four seamers in the upcoming Australia tour. India will play a five-match Test series against Australia Downunder after savoring success in the last two tours.

Singh had an impressive run in the T20 World Cup 2024, finishing as the joint-highest wicket-taker with Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi.

The left-arm seamer scalped 17 wickets in eight matches at an average of 12.65 and thus played a key role in taking India to glory. Singh has played six ODI matches and 52 T20Is but he is yet to make his debut in Test cricket.

The 25-year-old has picked 49 wickets in 16 first-class matches at an average of 31.97.

Paras Mhambrey said in an interview with Indian Express, “It depends on the conditions. Maybe in Australia, if we play four seamers, he has a chance. To get one in India will be very difficult at the moment. But I feel he just needs a little more game time in first-class cricket, just to get control over his swing and also know how to use reverse-swing, which will be very handy. He has the swing that works for him. It is about maintaining fitness and working on it.”

Mhambrey added that Singh has shown great maturity while handling the pressure in big T20I games. Singh has done a good job while bowling at both ends of the innings.

“He has shown good maturity in terms of his plans in T20s. Be it bowling in the Powerplay or at the death, he has full clarity. If you look at his body language, he is really pushing and that is a big plus. He is ready to handle pressure.

“You can see his potential in T20s and the idea was to make him a regular in the format and then make the progression to ODIs. We wanted him to play as much first-class cricket as possible just to get control over his skillset.”

India will take on Sri Lanka in three T20Is and as many ODIs.