Duleep Trophy - Arshad Khan wants to stamp his authority in red-ball cricket too

These are some of the ways in which Arshad Khan has made headlines in the last eight months, and the Madhya Pradesh left-arm quick has now set his eyes on the upcoming Duleep Trophy. This is the first time Arshad has been picked for the red-ball tournament and it comes as an achievement in itself because the 28-year-old has played only five first-class matches so far, all in the last Ranji Trophy season.

“This is a golden opportunity for me,” Arshad told Cricinfo earlier in August. “Things get better for a player once he does well in red-ball cricket. I believe that once a player gets the hang of red-ball cricket, he can excel in all three formats.”

The Duleep Trophy will be Arshad’s first tournament since touring Sri Lanka in June where he played three 50-over games in the tri-series. In the first game there, Arshad made an impact when Sri Lanka A required a mere 10 runs off 12 balls with three wickets in hand, and Arshad grabbed those three wickets in the space of four balls in the 49th over to clinch the game for India A. Six days later, when the hosts required five to win off six balls, Arshad conceded just four and took the game to a Super Over. He finished that series with four wickets and an economy rate of 5.49.

“Since we were playing in Sri Lanka I was trying to bowl according to the conditions,” Arshad said. “I was telling the others that the ball was reversing so batting was not all that easy. We were two fast bowlers in the XI (Arshad and Yash Thakur) so I had prepared myself mentally to bowl in the death. We may not have won the Super Over game but that was a great learning experience for me.”

Arshad has so far primarily been a T20 bowler, having played 38 games in the shortest format (27 of those in the IPL), eight in List A format before the recent tri-series, and just five with the red ball. He has been through the rigours of four seasons of the IPL, starting with Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2023, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2024 and the last two with Gujarat Titans (GT). After picking just one wicket for LSG in 2024 – which led to his release from the franchise – Arshad picked up his game for GT by taking home 12 wickets in 15 matches in the last two seasons.

“I got injured in the first season but I learnt a lot at LSG,” Arshad said. “But there was a massive change when I joined GT, where I have worked with Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel and Vikram Solanki. Spending time with them has really developed my game.

“He (Nehra) naturally talks about fast bowling but he has also helped a lot with reading the game and match situations. I believe he is the best cricketing mind in India currently which is why I learnt a lot from him. I try to improve every season and I work hard with other coaches too in the domestic season.”

It’s primarily his bowling exploits that Arshad is currently talked about but he had started out as an allrounder in the domestic circuit. In the 2019-20 CK Nayudu Trophy (Under-23 four-day matches), he finished with 36 wickets and also scored 400 runs in 10 matches. In that tournament he had scored 134 against Assam and smashed 86 off 54 against Mumbai with the help of five sixes and nine fours. In the IPL, too, he has a half-century to his name – an unbeaten 58 off 33 for LSG against Delhi Capitals in 2024.

“I still need to prove myself a lot,” he said. “It’s one thing to be an allrounder on paper and another to prove it with performances. I haven’t been able to prove myself as an allrounder yet, but I believe I have it in me and when the time comes I will show it. More than anyone I need to prove it to myself because I have not put in the performances yet to call myself an allrounder.”

After making his first-class debut only 10 months ago and now in the Duleep Trophy squad for Central Zone, it’s yet another chance for Arshad to take his game to the next level.

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