Arshdeep Singh

Some Lesser Known Facts About Arshdeep Singh

• Arshdeep Singh liked playing cricket since childhood and started playing in local cricket competitions at the age of 8.

• His father worked in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for more than 25 years. He later took up a private job as Chief Security Officer with DCM, Ropar so that Arshdeep could train at one academy.

• His father also played district-level cricket for Gurdaspur during his youth but could not pursue a cricket career, hence he supported Arshdeep’s decision to become a cricketer.

• As his father remained busy with his job, his mother often carried him to cricket training on a bicycle. She used to stay at the ground until he finished his training.

• After settling in Kharar, Mohali with his family, he started training at Jaswant Rai Training Academy in Sector-36, Chandigarh. He has represented Chandigarh and Punjab cricket teams in state-level tournaments.

  

• Once, he was coming back from school on the school bus, he fell asleep due to which he placed his head on the shoulder of the girl sitting beside him who shook him and woke him up. He stopped going on the bus after that incident and went to school on his bicycle.

• He took 19 wickets in 5 matches for Chandigarh in the Punjab Inter-District ODI Championship for DP Azad Trophy.

  

• In late 2017, he earned a spot in the 2018 U-19 World Cup squad after an exceptional performance for India Red in the Challenger trophy, where he took 7 wickets.

  

• In the 2018 CK Nayudu Trophy, he took 27 wickets in 6 matches for Punjab Under-23 including 10 wickets against Rajasthan Under-23 in which he took 8 wickets in the second innings with a hattrick.

• Arshdeep’s father was worried about his future and decided to send him to Canada to study, but Arshdeep convinced his father to allow him to play cricket by asking for a time of 1-2 years.

• He burst onto the scene during the 2018 U-19 World Cup held in New Zealand with his consistent pace around the 145 kph mark and was a member of the World Cup-winning team.

  

• On 19 September 2018, he made his List-A debut for Punjab against Himachal Pradesh in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He took 2 wickets for 51 runs in the match.

• In the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, he was acquired by Kings XI Punjab (renamed Punjab Kings) for his base prize of Rs 20 lakhs.

• On 16 April 2019, he debuted in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in which he took 2 wickets for 43 runs. It was also his debut T20 match.

  

• On 25 December 2019, he played his maiden first-class match for Punjab against Vidarbha in the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy and took 3 wickets for 65 runs in the first innings.

• His father felt that Arshdeep was not serious about his fitness and stamina, hence he took him to a nearby sports ground where he ran races with him. Though Arshdeep defeated his father multiple times, he started working out every day for 1-2 hours to increase his physical strength.

• He made headlines by taking 18 wickets in 12 matches of the 2021 IPL season at an average of 19, a strike rate of 13.78, and an economy rate of 8.27. On 21 September 2021, he took his first T20 5-wicket haul with 5 wickets for 32 runs against Rajasthan Royals.

• In the IPL auction for the 2022 season, Punjab Kings retained home for Rs 4 crore.

• He took 10 wickets in 6 matches during the 2022 T20 World Cup held in Australia.

• He faced communal trolling after he dropped a crucial catch in the death overs against Pakistan in the Asia Cup on 4 September 2022 leading India to lose the match, even his Wikipedia page was vandalized, where he was portrayed as a member of a “Khalistan squad” following which the Union ministry of electronics and information technology summoned Wikipedia officials to explain how such fake information was published. ^[1]The Telegraph

• In the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China in September 2023, he helped India win the gold medal.

  

• In March 2023, he was signed by Kent in five County Championship matches during the 2023-2024 County Championship.

• He was a key member of the Punjab squad which won the 2023-2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), its first title. In the final against Baroda, he took 4 wickets for 23 runs.

  

• After India defeated Australia in the 2024 T20 World Cup, many Pakistani batters including Inzamam-ul-Haq accused the Indian team of ball tampering. They claimed that Arshdeep got a reverse swing due to changes in the ball.