“That’s a new skill he has added” - Ricky Ponting opens up on Arshdeep Singh’s new bowling variation

Former Australian captain and commentator Ricky Ponting has made it clear that Arshdeep Singh is definitely a starter in the Indian playing XI when it comes to the shortest format of the game.

Speaking exclusively to the ICC Review Podcast, Ponting asserted that Arshdeep has developed a different slower ball than the one he actually has among his different variations, as he observed in the game against the USA.

"One thing I did notice last night is actually he's developed in his bowling a different slow ball than he usually has. He bowled like almost one that rolled out the side of his fingers yesterday like a little in-swinger type ball to a left-hander which will obviously swing a little bit across the right-hander as well. So that's a new skill that he's added," Ricky Ponting said on the ICC Review Podcast.

"He's a highly skilled bowler anyway. Ravi mentioned it, the fastest 100 T20 wickets, that speaks volumes for what he can do with the new ball and with the old ball. And he's very much, like all fast bowlers, really very much a confidence and rhythm bowler,” he added.

“You can see, you know, you can pretty much see with Arshdeep in his run-up. You know if he's on with the way that he's attacking the crease and how hard he's hitting the crease. And yeah, the skills are all there. You know, the in-swinger to the right-hand is there. The out-swinger to the right-hand is there. The around-the-wicket variations are there for him. His yorkers are as good as anybody's. So he very much deserves his place in this Indian starting XI," he concluded.

In the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign opener, Arshdeep Singh scalped two important wickets, conceding only 18 runs in his four-over spell at an economy of 4.5. He grabbed the wickets of the USA captain Monank Patel for a duck and Mohammad Mohsin for eight runs.

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