 "Aakash Chopra and Varun Aaron have called for Arshdeep–Bumrah pairing to stay intact in T20Is. Images: Aakash Chopra on X/PTI")
Former India cricketers Aakash Chopra and Varun Aaron have urged Team India to keep playing Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh together in T20Is as the Men In Blue aim to defend their T20 World Cup crown at home next year. Bumrah and Arshdeep took four wickets together on Tuesday as India defeated South Africa by 101 runs in the first T20I at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
They took three wickets in the powerplay. Two of them were taken by Arshdeep in his only two-over spell, while Bumrah got one. The senior pacer later took another wicket as he completed 100 wickets in T20Is . The early wickets in the powerplay stopped South Africa from enjoying the advantage of any dew as they were bowled out for just 74 in a 176-run chase.
Bumrah and Arshdeep have rarely played together in T20Is for India despite the team winning all three matches when they played together.
Chopra, Aaron call for Arshdeep–Bumrah pairing to stay intact
Former pacer Varun Aaron explained that Arshdeep’s wicket-taking ability, combined with Bumrah’s discipline, makes them a deadly duo.
“First of all, when you play against Bumrah as a batter, you are thinking to play his overs safely, but if you think that you can attack Arshdeep, then it’s not easy because he gets to move the ball,” Aaron said on Star Sports.
“The way he moves his fingers and Arshdeep gets a lot of back spin. When you get back spin and you have a nice wrist position, then definitely in the first three overs you will get swing on any wicket.”
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Former India opener Aakash Chopra likened Arshdeep to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, praising his control, ability to swing the ball and astute planning behind the wickets.
“We were saying this today. Arshdeep reminds us of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Because he also used to deliver balls like these,” Chopra said on Star Sports. “He also had great control. Whenever he wanted, he moved the fingers towards out for outswing, moved them inside and got inswing. But you don’t get a wicket just by swinging.
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View All“If you look at Arshdeep, he has an idea about how to take a wicket. You can take wickets with a bouncer also not just by bowling full. So inswing, outswing, bouncers, he keeps you guessing all the time. So when you defend against Bumrah, you also need runs in the powerplay. Now, when you try to go on attack, the other bowler is Arshdeep, so he would keep taking wickets. But I am surprised that this is the first time they played together in India. That was shocking.”
In a nutshell, both experts expressed that India must continue to trust the Bumrah-Arshdeep pair in T20Is, rather than trying to add another pacer who can bat.