Last year, Arshdeep Singh bowled 17 overs against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He took one wicket. He said afterwards that he “felt really good” with the number of overs he got through — that after 15 to 17 overs, his body was still responding the way he needed it to respond for Test cricket to be viable.
Then he went to England with India’s Test squad. He nearly made his debut in the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. And then he injured his bowling hand and was ruled out.
Arshdeep Singh’s Duleep Trophy 2026 appearance for North Zone — beginning August 23 when North Zone face West Zone in the quarter-final at CoE Ground 1 in Bengaluru — is his return to red-ball cricket after nearly a year. The same venue, the same tournament, the same specific challenge that four-day cricket poses for a bowler whose entire India career has been built in white-ball formats. Arshdeep Singh Duleep Trophy 2026 is the story of a 26-year-old left-arm fast bowler who has been one of India’s most consistent T20I performers for three years, who has been in and around the Test squad without making his debut, and who is now putting himself through the specific discipline of first-class cricket at a time when the India Test team is actively looking for pace bowling options after Jasprit Bumrah’s injury. Arshdeep Singh in the Duleep Trophy 2026 matters because it is the answer to a question that Indian Test cricket needs answered before the New Zealand tour in October: is Arshdeep Singh ready for five-day cricket, and will his left-arm angle and swing be as effective in the longest format as it has been in the shortest?
The North Zone Squad — J&K Dominance
Captain: Kanhaiya Wadhawan (J&K) | Vice-Captain: Ayush Badoni (Delhi)
North Zone’s Arshdeep Singh Duleep Trophy 2026 squad is built around the Ranji Trophy champions from the previous season. Jammu and Kashmir won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in their history last season — and that historic title has been rewarded with six of their players earning North Zone spots.
Kanhaiya Wadhawan — the J&K wicketkeeper-batter — captains the side. His Ranji season was impressive: 474 runs in 13 innings at 36.46. His wicketkeeping behind the stumps in the specific CoE conditions will be tested by the range of bowling North Zone has available — from Arshdeep’s left-arm swing to the spin of Abid Mushtaq to the pace of Yudhvir Singh and Sunil Kumar. Ayush Badoni of Delhi serves as vice-captain — the experienced domestic all-rounder whose ability to bat in the middle order and bowl usefully gives North Zone the balance their side needs.
The J&K presence beyond Wadhawan: opener Qamran Iqbal, middle-order batter Abdul Samad — who was J&K’s highest run-scorer last Ranji Trophy season with 748 runs in 15 innings at 57.53 — left-arm spin all-rounder Abid Mushtaq, and the fast-bowling pair of Sunil Kumar and Yudhvir Singh.
Anshul Kamboj of Haryana is the other headline name — a right-arm fast bowler who has himself been in and around India’s Test squad and brings additional pace experience to a North Zone attack that will be led by Arshdeep but needs depth behind him.
Full North Zone Squad:
| Player | State | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Kanhaiya Wadhawan (c) | J&K | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| Ayush Badoni (vc) | Delhi | All-Rounder |
| Qamran Iqbal | J&K | Opening Batter |
| Yash Dhull | Delhi | Batter |
| Ayush Doseja | Himachal Pradesh | Batter |
| Abdul Samad | J&K | Batter |
| Nishant Sindhu | Haryana | All-Rounder |
| Arjun Sharma | Punjab | All-Rounder |
| Abid Mushtaq | J&K | Left-Arm Spin All-Rounder |
| Arshdeep Singh | Punjab | Left-Arm Fast |
| Sunil Kumar | J&K | Right-Arm Fast |
| Anshul Kamboj | Haryana | Right-Arm Fast |
| Yudhvir Singh | J&K | Right-Arm Fast |
| Sanat Sangwan | Haryana | Left-Arm Fast |
| Nikhil Kashyap | Uttarakhand | Batter |
The One Year Gap — What Arshdeep Is Coming Back From
Arshdeep Singh last played red-ball cricket at the Duleep Trophy 2025 — the previous edition of this same tournament, at this same venue, in this same August window. He bowled 17 overs against East Zone, took one wicket, and said enough encouraging things about how his body felt that the selectors included him in India’s Test squad for the England tour later that year.
England. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India’s most significant away Test series of the year. Arshdeep was in the squad through the first three Tests without playing. By the fourth Test, he was reportedly in serious consideration for his debut — the combination of conditions (swing-friendly English surfaces) and the specific left-arm angle that can trouble right-handed batters in those conditions making him an attractive option.
Then the bowling hand injury. He was ruled out. The debut that had come close did not happen.
He went through rehabilitation. IPL 2025 came and went — 21 wickets in 17 matches for Punjab Kings, the most by any PBKS bowler in the season, a reminder that in white-ball cricket he remains one of India’s most reliable performers in the death overs. The white-ball game has never been his problem.
The red-ball game is the question. And the specific question is not whether he can bowl fast or swing the ball — he clearly can. The question is whether he can bowl 17-20 overs in a day across four days of a Test match without the ball reversing for him in the way that limited-overs conditions never require him to manage.
The Siraj Advice — How to Enjoy the Boring Sessions
The specific insight that Arshdeep Singh shared from last year’s Duleep Trophy appearance is the most revealing thing he has said about his red-ball development.
He quoted Mohammed Siraj directly: “When nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket.”
And then his own reflection on it: “In Test cricket or red-ball cricket, there is a time when the day gets boring. In the session after lunch, mostly the ball doesn’t do anything. So, how can you enjoy that? I spoke to Siraj and he gave me this small tip. I really liked it.”
That conversation — a white-ball specialist asking a Test-experienced fast bowler how to handle the specific mental challenge of bowling when conditions offer nothing — is the most useful data point about Arshdeep’s red-ball development that exists. It tells you that he is actively thinking about the challenge rather than assuming his white-ball quality will simply transfer. It tells you that he is taking advice from the right people. And it tells you that he understood immediately why the question matters: the session after lunch in a Test match, when the ball is 40 overs old and the pitch is flat and the batters are settled, is where fast bowlers either find something to do or get hit. Managing that session — mentally and technically — is a skill that takes years to develop.
The Duleep Trophy is where he gets more practice at developing it.
Why This Matters — The Test Door Is Open
India’s current fast bowling situation has created an opening that Arshdeep’s Duleep Trophy performance could walk through.
Jasprit Bumrah is ruled out of the Sri Lanka Tests with his knee injury. Harshit Rana is out with a hamstring. Nitish Kumar Reddy is out with a quadriceps injury. Akash Deep is in back rehabilitation. The pace bowling depth that India thought they had heading into this Test cycle has been significantly thinned by injury.
The New Zealand Test tour in October — two Tests away from home, in conditions where the ball swings and left-arm angles are specifically valuable — is the next major Test assignment after Sri Lanka. The selectors need to know before that tour whether Arshdeep Singh is a Test-ready option. The Duleep Trophy quarter-final from August 23 is the answer they are looking for.
Specifically: can he bowl 17-20 overs in a day across the North Zone quarter-final at Bengaluru’s CoE? Can he maintain his pace at the backend of a long spell on a surface that does not swing? Can he do what Siraj told him about — find something to enjoy in the session when the ball is not doing anything?
The specific left-arm angle that Arshdeep generates is the quality that Test selectors value him for. Against right-handed openers who play across the line, a left-arm fast bowler who brings the ball back from over the wicket at 135-140 km/h creates a specific problem. It is the same problem that Siraj, bowling right-arm, does not create. It is the same problem that Jadeja and Kuldeep, bowling spin, do not create. Arshdeep in the Test XI is not a replacement for another bowler — he is a dimension that no one else in the current squad provides.
Whether the Duleep Trophy confirms him as ready for that role is the question that August 23 begins to answer.
North Zone’s Title Challenge
The historical context of North Zone’s Duleep Trophy campaign adds a specific motivation beyond individual selection.
North Zone have won the Duleep Trophy 18 times. West Zone — their quarter-final opponents on August 23 — have won it 19 times. A North Zone victory in this tournament would draw them level with West Zone at the top of the all-time title standings. That is not nothing. Domestic tournament records carry weight in Indian cricket’s institutional memory, and the J&K players in this squad — who just won the Ranji Trophy for the first time in their state’s history — are not players who treat records as irrelevant background noise.
Wadhawan captaining a side that includes six Ranji Trophy-winning J&K players, leading them against a West Zone squad that features Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan, is a specific underdog context that domestic cricket generates better than any other format.
The Schedule — When to Watch
| Match | Teams | Venue | Dates | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter-Final | North Zone vs West Zone | CoE Ground 1, Bengaluru | Aug 23-26 | 9:30 AM IST |
| Semi-Final (if qualified) | North Zone vs Central Zone | CoE Ground 1 | Aug 30-Sep 2 | 9:30 AM IST |
| Final (if qualified) | TBC | CoE Ground 1 | Sep 6-10 | 9:30 AM IST |
Live streaming: JioHotstar + Star Sports
FAQ — Arshdeep Singh Duleep Trophy 2026
Q: When did Arshdeep Singh last play red-ball cricket before Duleep Trophy 2026?
Arshdeep Singh last played red-ball cricket at the Duleep Trophy 2025, where he bowled 17 overs for North Zone against East Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, taking one wicket. That match was his last competitive first-class appearance before the 2026 Duleep Trophy beginning August 23 — a gap of nearly one year.
Q: Why did Arshdeep Singh miss his Test debut during England tour 2025?
Arshdeep Singh was part of India’s Test squad for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England in 2025 and was reportedly in consideration for debut in the fourth Test. He was ruled out of the match after sustaining a bowling hand injury, ending his chances of making his Test debut on that tour. He has still not made his Test debut for India.
Q: Who is the captain of North Zone in Duleep Trophy 2026?
Kanhaiya Wadhawan — the Jammu and Kashmir wicketkeeper-batter — captains North Zone for the Duleep Trophy 2026, with Ayush Badoni of Delhi as vice-captain. The squad is dominated by J&K players — six of their Ranji Trophy-winning team are included — alongside Delhi’s Yash Dhull and Haryana’s Anshul Kamboj and Nishant Sindhu.
Q: What advice did Mohammed Siraj give Arshdeep Singh about red-ball cricket?
Siraj told Arshdeep: “When nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket.” Arshdeep referenced this advice during his Duleep Trophy 2025 media interaction, saying he specifically asked Siraj how to handle the session after lunch in Test cricket when the ball stops moving — and found Siraj’s perspective genuinely valuable for his red-ball development.
Q: Who does North Zone play in the Duleep Trophy 2026 quarter-final?
North Zone face West Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2026 quarter-final at CoE Ground 1 in Bengaluru from August 23-26, starting at 9:30 AM IST. West Zone’s squad includes Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan — making it the marquee quarter-final of the first round alongside East Zone vs North East Zone on the adjacent ground.
Q: Why is Arshdeep Singh’s Duleep Trophy 2026 performance important for India’s Test team?
India’s pace bowling depth has been significantly depleted by injuries — Bumrah (knee), Harshit Rana (hamstring), Nitish Kumar Reddy (quadriceps) and Akash Deep (back) are all unavailable. The New Zealand Test tour in October requires a left-arm pace option that Arshdeep uniquely provides. A strong Duleep Trophy performance would significantly advance his case for the New Zealand Test squad and potentially his long-awaited Test debut.
