"Happy for him and for India" - Wasim Akram backs Arshdeep Singh to be a long-term player for India

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram was left impressed by Arshdeep Singh's performance during the 2022 Asia Cup. He has earmarked the youngster to have a long career.

Arshdeep made his international debut against England in July 2022 and made the English batters uncomfortable, returning figures of 3.3-1-18-2. The 24-year-old has picked up 41 wickets in 26 T20Is at 17.78 and is the spearhead for the Punjab Kings.

Speaking to Sportskeeda, Akram observed that Arshdeep swings the ball both ways and is confident his speed will increase with time. The 56-year-old explained:

"When I saw him in the Asia Cup, I was impressed. He swings the ball both ways and since he is young, his pace will keep increasing. When you come as a 20 or 21-year-old, your pace increases after that. As and when you bowl, the speed increases. With Arshdeep, he takes wickets with the new ball and executes the yorkers well in death overs to dismiss batters. I'm happy for him and for India for getting a bowler who will play for a long time."

The 24-year-old bowled a terrific final over against the Mumbai Indians last week, dismantling the middle stump of Tilak Varma and Nehal Wadhera to fire the Kings to a thrilling win.

"He has been impressive in the last 2-3 years" - Wasim Akram on Axar Patel

Reflecting on Axar Patel's meteoric rise, Akram thinks he is an invaluable T20 cricketer and that runs off his bat have made an enormous difference in the past few months.

"He has been impressive in the last 2-3 years, scoring runs in Test matches and has performed well under challenging circumstances. He has been playing for a long time; hence, he has also experience. His ball doesn't turn much so he knows how to bowl in T20 cricket. Most of all, he scores runs consistently, so that has been a massive difference. So, Axar has transformed into a proper all-rounder and such players are an asset in T20s. CSK has Jadeja."

Axar, currently playing for the Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023, was the second-highest run-getter for India in the four-Test series against Australia, managing three fifties.