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Mohammed Siraj taught Arshdeep Singh to enjoy boring times in cricket.
Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj with the Indian team.
(PC: BCCI)
Mohammed Siraj has taught his pace partner Arshdeep Singh ‘how to enjoy the boring times’. The left-arm quick, currently playing in the Duleep Trophy, said with that great ‘tip’ he has learned to make every moment where things are not going his way — whether on the field or off it — count.
Siraj and Arshdeep spent a long time together in England during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which India drew 2-2. While Siraj played all five Tests, Arshdeep played none, due to the team combinations and injury concerns when it looked he could get a chance. That means he’s still waiting for his Test debut.
“Mentally in the last two months, I have learnt how to enjoy the boring time,” Arshdeep was quoted as saying by PTI. “In Test cricket or red-ball matches, there is a time when the work gets boring. Like the session after lunch, the ball doesn’t do anything… how can you enjoy that?,” he added.
“I spoke to Siraj, he told me that when nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase will tell you how successful you can be in red-ball cricket. He gave me this small tip and I really liked it. The same thing happened here. They (East Zone) were just down four wickets and the ball wasn’t doing anything. So, that was the main motive… how to enjoy each other’s company. That’s how the results came,” he said.
Arshdeep has done decently well against East Zone, taking a wicket in the second innings and hitting a couple of sixes with the bat, to boot. With North Zone in a dominating position ahead of the fourth day on Sunday, he might get more opportunities to bowl and make his mark.
“This game, I felt really good. The last couple of months I was with the (Indian) team, trained a lot, bowled a lot and worked a lot with the S&C (strength and conditioning). Here, I bowled a decent long spell, 17 overs. It is coming out well and the body felt well,” he added.
Arshdeep further spoke about how he uses his downtime the same way, working on fitness and enhancing his skills so he could be ready when he’s in the 11.
‘Just about how you adapt’
The Test call-up made Arshdeep a truly all-format player. Now, after the Duleep Trophy, he’d head to the UAE for the T20 Asia Cup. The pacer says adaptation is the key in the modern era.
“It depends on how quickly you adapt. In today’s cricket, a batsman can hit against the red ball and he can play conservatively against a white ball. So, it depends on how you can adapt according to the situation, according to the wicket, according to the weather, (you have to) decide when you have to put in effort and when you have to contain yourself. So (it is) just about how you can adapt,” he said.
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