How quick learner Arshdeep Singh overtook contemporaries like Shivam Mavi, Nagarkoti and Ishan Porel of the 2018 batch?

Arshdeep Singh, a star in the making, for sure. Many former cricketers have already marked him as the next bowling star from India. And, yes, he has lived up to those expectations, till now.

But, going back to 2018, Arshdeep was not the star of that U19 World Cup-winning team, led by Prithvi Shaw. In fact, it was Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Ishan Porel who made their names in that world cup under then-U19 coach Rahul Dravid. Interestingly, none of them is yet to don the blue, while Arsheep Singh is sharing the new ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.

Now, the question is how Arshdeep Singh knocked out all his competitors or to be where he is now.

ICC U19 World Cup 2018 | Overshadowed by others

Here are a few stats from the ICC U19 World Cup 2018.

Shivam Mavi - 9 wickets at an average of 18.88
Kamlesh Nagarkoti - 9 wickets with an economy rate of 3.48
Ishan Porel - 6 wickets in 4 matches. Economy rate- 3.56
Arshdeep Singh - 2 wickets in 2 games. Played against Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe.

So, from the above stats, one can surely mark out who was going to be the next future star. Surely, Arshdeep was not on everyone's list. Mavi and Nagarkoti got picked by KKR instantly for the 2018 IPL and Mavi went on to feature in 9 games for the purple and blue. Nagarkoti could not play due to an injury he suffered. Only Porel and Arshdeep had to wait for the next seasons to get picked by any franchise.

Arshdeep got picked by Kings XI Punjab for the 2019 season while Porel had to wait for another season to get picked by the same franchise. But, in the meantime, both Porel and Arshdeep were doing great for their home teams in domestic cricket.

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Domestic cricket and the rise of Arshdeep Singh

Ishan got picked for the Duleep Trophy 2018-19 season and went on to play for India A with decent success. On the contrary, Nagarkoti kept on getting big injuries which threw him out of the game for quite a few months. Shivam Mavi, on the other hand, played a single game for India A against South Africa A, but could not impress selectors to get another go.

After an average debut season in Vijaya Hazare, Arshdeep did well in the U-23s to catch the attention of the local franchise Kings XI Punjab. Meanwhile, Shivam Mavi struggled with form in the domestic and Nagarkoti was still fighting with injuries.

Arshdeep played just three games in the 2019 season of IPL and somehow managed to get retained by the franchise for the next season. To his credit, he had shown a glimpse of becoming a better death bowler for struggling Kings XI Punjab. Meantime, both Mavi and Nagarkoti were injured in the 2019 IPL season and Ishan did not have a team in IPL.

In the 2020 season, Ishan impressed each and every one in the domestic circuit playing for Bengal and India A. But, Arshdeep and Mavi got all the attention by doing well for KXIP and KKR respectively in that season. Nagarkoti played 10 games for KKR but only took 5 wickets which were not enough to make the buzz.

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2021 IPL season

It was the 2021 season when the race to the India cap got narrower as Ishan Porel and Arshdeep Singh were marked out as the future of seam bowling in India. Ishan continuously did well in domestic. So did, Arshdeep for Punjab.

Arshdeep's 18 wickets made him one of the stars of that season while Ishan only got one game for PBKS to show his talent in the 2021 season of IPL. Mavi had a good season as well, but his tendency to get injured somehow left him behind in the race.

Since then, Arshdeep has been marked as a white ball specialist with an accurate yorker back in the sleeve. However, as per team India bowling coach Paras Mambhrey, it is the eagerness to learn things that made him better in a quick time.

Arshdeep Singh and his ability to learn quick

Arshdeep won the race to the blue cap and took 3 for 18 in his debut game against England in India's tour to England. Since then he has gone through highs and lows as a bowler. But, it is his temperament to handle the pressure that made him one of the go-to men for Rohit Sharma in the shortest format for team India.

"He's the kind of guy who likes to talk a lot and he has a chat with the other senior guys, and I've seen him discussing a lot with Bhuvi and Shami because those guys have played out here," Parash Mambhrey said in the post-match show after the India vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2022.

"So the kind of learning that he's taking, he's trying to implement that in a game. I'll give that credit to him. Obviously having a chat and understanding what is required, but to be able to go out there and execute it and do it yourself as an individual, skills comes in," he added.

Not only Mambhrey, but head coach Rahul Dravid was also super impressed by the left-armer. Rahul is impressed by the fact that even at his age his preparation for every situation is as good as an experienced bowler like Jasprit Bumrah.

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"He has forced his way into the side and done really well:" Rahul Dravid on Arshdeep Singh

"If you were to ask me in November when I first took over and I had a list of bowlers in my mind," Dravid said. "Sure, Arshdeep was there, but he had had one good IPL. But the way he's come along after that, he's come and forced his way into the side and done really well. So that's a fantastically heartening thing to see," Dravid added.

Even during the game against Zimbabwe, West Indies legend, Ian Bishop mentioned how good Arshdeep has been in the world cup with his length and accuracy. He is now swinging it both ways, making it harder for the batters to pick. At the death, when he is missing the yorkers, he has not gone for that many. So, it is giving Rohit Sharma a chance to rely on him in the toughest situation. Credit to Rohit as well on how he backed him after the India-Pakistan incident in the Asia Cup, a month ago.

But with everything aside, Arshdeep knows cricket (specially T20 Cricket) is a mercurial game. One day a top edge can go for a six and one day it can land in the fielder's hand in the deep. Thus, his routine to plan, learn, chat, chat a lot and switch off as soon as the last ball of the match gets bowled, takes him away above his contemporaries.