[Watch] Arshdeep Singh dismisses Ben Foakes to bag his maiden county wicket
Arshdeep Singh picked up his maiden county wicket for Kent, trapping England wicket-keeper Ben Foakes lbw for three against Surrey at Canterbury on Monday (June 12).
The left-arm seamer was signed up by Kent in March and debuted in the County Championship Division One on Sunday, June 11. Arshdeep went wicketless for his first eight overs despite being economical after his side posted 301 on Day One of the four-day game.
However, in his ninth over, the Madhya Pradesh-born seamer bowled a superb delivery that jagged back in to trap Foakes and leave Surrey at 42-5 in their first innings.
Here is the video of Arshdeep's maiden English county wicket:
Arshdeep Singh has his first #LVCountyChamp wicket!
The @KentCricket bowler gets one to nip back and dismisses Ben Foakes https://t.co/RS4TTfAjut
Arshdeep Singh was India's leading wicket-taker in their T20 World Cup campaign last year, picking up ten wickets in six games at an average of 15.60. The youngster was often skipper Rohit Sharma's go-to bowler during India's semi-final run at the World Cup.
In his T20I career, Arshdeep has picked up 41 wickets in 26 matches for India since making his debut against England in July 2022.
The 24-year-old has also been a vital cog in the Punjab Kings (PBKS) squad since joining the franchise in 2019. In the recently concluded season, Arshdeep picked up 17 wickets in 14 games at an average of 29, including a match-winning performance of 4/29 against the Mumbai Indians.
The young seamer has become one of the household names of the IPL, bagging 57 wickets in the competition.
"Lot of this goes to Rahul Dravid" - Arshdeep Singh on his decision to join Kent
Arshdeep Singh credited Indian head coach Rahul Dravid for joining Kent in the County Championship, considering the former Indian great had also represented the county in 2000.
In a video shared by Kent Cricket, Arshdeep said:
"Why Kent? I guess a lot of this goes to Rahul Dravid, he told me about the history of this county, and he told me that he played for this team as well, and I want to play for this team because of that as well. He has inspired a lot of young players back home, and that is something that inspired me to join Kent as well."
The 24-year-old also praised the dressing room atmosphere post joining the squad and felt that the weather was similar to home.
"Feeling really excited and happy, first of all, to be here and be part of such a great franchise. A great county with a really rich history, as I have been told by the people back home, and it feels like home here, I’d say; it's just a bit colder than home," added Arshdeep.
"Summers feel like winters here; the atmosphere is really nice; the environment in the dressing room is really nice; and everyone’s been really nice to me. I don’t know, maybe it’s my first day, and that’s why I'm looking forward to achieving some amazing things with the team," concluded Arshdeep.
Kent are languishing at the second-from-bottom position in the points table with only one win in seven games. Arshsdeep, who has picked up 21 wickets in seven first-class games for Punjab, will hope to spark a turnaround to the remainder of their season.