Even in an era where there is an unending stream of cricket matches, players experience periods of drought. Recently, Arshdeep Singh was in England with the Indian team for nearly two months but did not play a single competitive game.

However, the 26-year-old, who will be one of India’s leading bowlers at the upcoming Asia Cup, is not perturbed by the lack of game time. He bowled 17 first-innings overs for North Zone in the ongoing Duleep Trophy quarterfinal versus East at the BCCI Centre of Excellence here and appeared happy overall.

“Mentally, what I have learnt in the last two months is to enjoy the boring time,” Arshdeep said. “Because in red-ball cricket, there will be times when the work gets boring. Like the session after lunch… say the ball doesn’t do anything. How to enjoy that?

“I spoke to [Mohammed] Siraj and he told me that how you enjoy the phase when nothing is happening will tell you how successful you can be. He gave me this small tip and I really liked it,” the left-arm pacer added.

Even physically, it was not hard to gear up, Arshdeep felt. “In the last Test [at The Oval], I started training with a white ball. I don’t know how many thousands of balls I threw in practice. At the end of the day, white ball or red, you just play.

“In today’s cricket, a batsman can hit out against the red ball and play conservatively against a white ball. So, it just depends on how you adapt to the situation, the wicket, the weather, and decide when to put in the effort and when to conserve.”

Published on Aug 30, 2025