"It's Good News For Punjab As Well As India": Aakash Chopra On Arsdeep Singh's Performance

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India]: Ahead of the fixture against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League 2024 on Saturday, former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that if Punjab Kings (PBKS) seamer Arshdeep Singh performs well it will not only be great for his franchise but for team India also as the T20 World Cup 2024 is around the corner.

Punjab Kings will play their sixth game in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League against the in-form Rajasthan Royals at the new PCA Stadium, Mullanpur on Saturday.

"So who should we focus on? Since the ball is moving here more under lights, let me start with a bowler. Let's talk about Arshdeep. He picked up four wickets and kept his team alive in the game. Arshdeep was swinging the ball both ways. It's good news for Punjab as well as India if Arsh continues to pick up wickets," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"The second player, I am saying Shashank Singh. You can send Shashank above Jitesh (Sharma) because if someone has a form, it needs to be utilized fully. Jitesh is a capped Indian player and might be a better player than Shashank, but the truth is that whoever has form, more power, and is doing well, should be made to bat up the order," the former cricketer added.

"You can probably send him to bat above Sikandar Raza. The third player to watch out for - I am once again going towards Ashutosh. He comes and hits very hard. He got two or three lives in the last over in the previous match but the guy has the power. Whatever I said for Shashank, the same goes for Ashutosh, send him also slightly up the order," the commentator concluded.

In the IPL 2024 so far, Arsdeep has snapped eight wickets in five matches at an average of 20 with the best bowling figures of 4/29 which came in the previous fixture against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

PBKS squad for IPL 2024: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Tanay Thyagarajan, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Chris Woakes, Rishi Dhawan, Sikandar Raza, Ashutosh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh.