“Very rarely do I receives the chance to play red-ball cricket, and this was a chance

Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh Aims for Test Debut After Duleep Trophy Return

India pacer Arshdeep Singh is looking to solidify his chances for a Test debut following his participation in the 2026 Duleep Trophy. The 27-year-old fast bowler, who has previously represented India in 18 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 91 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), had not played a red-ball match for nearly a year before this tournament. His recent performance could be pivotal in his bid to break into the Test side.

Because we got the win,” Arshdeep said after the game, as quoted by Cricinfo, the body is sore, but it’s a good sore.

Arshdeep said he changed his training routine before the Duleep Trophy, focusing specifically on bowling with the red ball. He said red-ball cricket gives bowlers repeated chances to trouble batters. “Very rarely do I get the chance to play red-ball cricket, and this was a chance. 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.

Arshdeep, who played five County Championship matches for Kent in 2023, said county cricket remains valuable but India’s packed schedule makes another stint difficult.

“Ajay Sharma, our head coach, just told me that ‘even if you don’t get wickets with the new ball, you have a chance to come back in the second spell’. Red ball has that beauty of giving you a chance again,” he said. We all choose to play here and give our best,” he said. On Bengaluru’s pitch, Arshdeep said bowlers had to rely more on tactics than movement.

“Whenever you get a chance, whenever there is a time frame you can go to England to play county cricket, that is a really good experience, but now, with the IPL, the white-ball season at home, and domestic cricket also going on, you can’t go play county. There are crucial games getting played here. We want to push our domestic cricket as well and make sure the level doesn’t drop down.