Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram showered praise on Arshdeep Singh after the young India pacer put on an impressive show in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup. Arshdeep ended the tournament as the joint-highest wicket-taker, alongside Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi, with 17 wickets, helping India win the coveted title. Arshdeep formed a lethal pace attack with senior pro Jasprit Bumrah, who was named player of the tournament. Sharing his views on Arshdeep, Akram urged his fellow left-arm pacer to focus on playing longest format of the game.

“If you have to leave a legacy, you have to think about long-format cricket. People should be talking about you even 10-20 years after your retirement that no such bowler came in cricket history. These young bowlers should have that kind of mindset. No doubt, he has got the potential. I would give him eight,” the pace legend told Sportskeeda in a chat.

On being asked to rate Arshdeep’s performance, Akram gave him a solid ‘8’, but suggested that he should play Test cricket in order to leave behind a legacy.

“Very impressive, very talented. He should be focusing on four-day cricket too because he has swing and pace. He swings the ball both ways and the new ball comes in decently. I think he has got the potential to be a regular bowler for India. I hope he has Test cricket on his mind because you will make money in T20s and you will make your name for one year in T20s,” he added.

In the latest T20I rankings, Arshdeep gained four spots to reach a career-best No.13.

Arshdeep was one of the six Indian players in ICC’s team of the T20 World Cup 2024. The other five players were India captain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

Team of the tournament: Rohit Sharma, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nicholas Pooran, Suryakumar Yadav, Marcus Stoinis, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Fazalhaq Farooqi.