India pacer Arshdeep Singh is hoping his return to first-class cricket can strengthen his case for a Test debut. The 27-year-old, who has played 18 ODIs and 91 T20Is, had not played a red-ball game for nearly a year before featuring in the 2026 Duleep Trophy.Arshdeep played a key role in North Zone’s 52-run win over West Zone in Bengaluru, taking 3/53 and 1/40 across the two innings.“Very rarely do I get the chance to play red-ball cricket, and this was a chance. I wanted to showcase my skill set and just see how many overs I can bowl. The rhythm feels nice. After a long time, I was playing a red-ball game. I put in a lot of hours in practice, and it felt nice. The body is sore, but it’s a good sore because we got the win,” Arshdeep said after the game, as quoted by Cricinfo.Arshdeep said he changed his training routine before the Duleep Trophy, focusing specifically on bowling with the red ball.“This time around, I knew the Duleep Trophy was coming, I was practising with red ball. When white-ball season is coming, then you practice with the white ball. It’s very specific training based on what kind of season is coming in front of you,” he added.He said red-ball cricket gives bowlers repeated chances to trouble batters.“Ajay Sharma, our head coach, just told me that ‘even if you don’t get wickets with the new ball, you have a chance to come back in the second spell’. Red ball has that beauty of giving you a chance again,” he said.

Experience and adaptability

Arshdeep, who played five County Championship matches for Kent in 2023, said county cricket remains valuable but India’s packed schedule makes another stint difficult.“Whenever you get a chance, whenever there is a time frame you can go to England to play county cricket, that is a really good experience, but now, with the IPL, the white-ball season at home, and domestic cricket also going on, you can’t go play county. There are crucial games getting played here. We want to push our domestic cricket as well and make sure the level doesn’t drop down. We all choose to play here and give our best,” he said.On Bengaluru’s pitch, Arshdeep said bowlers had to rely more on tactics than movement.“On wickets like this, you just have to play with the mind. Sometimes you get success, sometimes you get hit for across-the-line six as well. So you got to take both and just keep trying,” he said.