Yash Dayal outshines Arshdeep Singh and Khaleel Ahmed in the fast bowlers' race for India Test call-up

The Duleep Trophy's first round was considered the ultimate test for players vying for a spot in the upcoming first Test against Bangladesh. However, players who were not selected still have a chance to prove themselves, as squads for the second Test and future matches against New Zealand have yet to be announced.

Fast bowler Yash Dayal is among the new faces in the 16-man squad for the first Test. While there was little argument against Dayal's selection itself, eyebrows were raised as to how it is that Khaleel Ahmed and Arshdeep Singh were ignored. Arshdeep in particular was seen to be in line for making his Test debut, having established himself in the shorter formats and being an integral part of the Indian team that won the 2024 T20 World Cup.

According to the Indian Express, a combination of the three bowlers' performance in the first round of the Duleep Trophy and their experience in first class cricket was taken into account before choosing one of them. The Indian Express reports that the fact that Arshdeep couldn't make the most of pace-friendly conditions in Anantapur while playing for India D. Arshdeep recorded figures of 1/28 and 1/37 in the match, thus taking just two wickets in a game where neither team could get close to the 250-run mark in their innings.

Both Dayal and Khaleel played at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Khaleel took figures of 2/54 and 3/69 for India A but he was also among the most expensive bowlers. Dayal, meanwhile, recorded figures of 1/39 and 3/50. Two of the wickets in the second innings were of Rinku Singh and Dhruv Jurel which was almost the turning point of the match.

It was a close contest between the three players but the fact that Dayal also is more experienced in long-form cricket than Arshdeep or Khaleel also went in his favour. Dayal has played 24 first class games thus far. Khaleel and Arshdeep on the other hand have played 13 and 17 matches respectively.

“Yash Dayal has played more first-class cricket than both Arshdeep and Khaleel. And in the first round of the Duleep Trophy match, Arahdeep got a green top in Anantapur but he couldn’t make the most of it,” a BCCI official is quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

“Khaleel bowled well but at the same time was erratic, while Yash bowled with more control. He turned the game for India B in the second innings after he dismissed Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel in quick succession. Although in the first innings, he picked up only one wicket but didn’t gave away easy runs.”