Arshdeep fine-tunes red-ball skills by learning to enjoy the 'boring times'

Arshdeep Singh is learning how to enjoy the "boring times" in red-ball cricket and has spent the last few months working on his "mindset" as he tunes up for the upcoming season.

Arshdeep, 26, is currently playing for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against East Zone in Bengaluru, his last competitive game before the 2025 Asia Cup, which begins on September 9 in Abu Dhabi.

"In Test cricket or red-ball cricket, there is a time when the day gets boring," Arshdeep said. "In the session after lunch, mostly the ball doesn't do anything. So, how can you enjoy that?

"I spoke to [Mohammed] Siraj and he told me that when nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket. He gave me this small tip. I really liked it."

Before this, Arshdeep last played competitive cricket at IPL 2025, where he finished as Punjab Kings' highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets in 17 matches. He earned a maiden Test call-up for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and was in contention to make his debut in the fourth Test, but injured his bowling hand and was ruled out.

Having gone close to three months without a game, Arshdeep put in a long shift on the second day, bowling 17 overs, the most by any North Zone bowler. While he only got one wicket, he "felt really good" with the number of overs he got in.

"In the last couple of months I was with the team, I trained a lot, bowled a lot and worked a lot with the S&C [strength and conditioning]," Arshdeep said. "I worked on fitness as well and that helped me bowl a decent long spell. After 15-17 overs, my body feels well. It's [the ball] coming out really well. Not many wickets but yes, they will come as well in the future."

Did it get frustrating at any point in England, having to spend almost two months on the sidelines? How did he keep himself motivated?

"When you are not playing, you just try to push your limits. The training is almost the same," he said. "You just put in more work when you are not playing. More overs, more strength work, more training, so that whenever you get the chance, you are ready and fully fit to go.

"I don't know how many thousands of balls I would have bowled in practice. It's not like there was a lack of bowling. I was properly managing my workload. The aim is to stay ready whenever you get a chance."

Arshdeep will have to make a quick switch to white-ball cricket, with the Indian team slated to reach Dubai for the Asia Cup preparations on September 4. The fast bowler, however, doesn't feel the switch to T20 cricket will be tough, and insists it is all about adaptability.

"Right from the last Test [at The Oval], I had started practising with a white ball," Arshdeep said. "I didn't know that there was a Duleep Trophy match in between. At the end of the day, red ball, white ball or pink ball, you have to play cricket and try and enjoy it.

"I have got a chance here [at the Duleep Trophy], will play with a white ball next [at the Asia Cup]. So the aim is to put in a lot of overs under your belt and play any format. The mindset is about how quickly you can adapt. In today's cricket, a batsman can hit against the red ball and he can play conservatively against a white ball.

"So, it's all about how you can adapt according to the situation, according to the wicket, according to the weather, when you have to put in effort, when you have to conserve yourself."

India's first game at the Asia Cup is against UAE on September 10. They will play Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19 before the Super Four round gets underway from September 20.