Akash Chopra feels India’s Arshdeep Singh will play “important” role against England in T20I series

New Delhi [India], January 22 (ANI): Former cricketer Akash Chopra said that India pacer Arshdeep Singh will play an “important” role in the upcoming five-match T20I series against England.

The Men in Blue will take on England in the first match of the T20I series in Kolkata’s iconic Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Arshdeep made his T20I debut in 2022 against England. Following that he has played 60 20-over matches and picked up 95 wickets at an economy rate of 8.32.

Speaking exclusively on Star Sports, Akash Chopra said that India need quick wickets in the game as the Three Lions have a solid batting lineup. The former cricketer praised Arshdeep for his ability to take wickets in the initial overs.

Chopra further added that the young India pacer also has variations.

“Extremely important. Because there will be Ben Duckett and Phil Salt as their opening pair, at number 3 they have Jos Buttler, and you realize that if their wickets don’t fall, then there will be a lot of beating. But the best thing about this bowler is that he takes wickets in the initial overs. He also has variations,” Akash Chopra was quoted in a release from Star Sports as saying.

The five-match T20I series will kick off on January 22 in Kolkata. The second and third matches will be held on January 25 and 28 in Chennai and Rajkot, respectively. The fourth game of the series will be played on January 31 in Pune. Mumbai will host the final match of the T20I series on February 2.

India’s squad for the T20I series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (VC), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK).