‘He’s greedy’: Former India captain’s blunt attack on Arshdeep Singh after taking four wickets

Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh celebrates with teammate Virat Kohli (AP/PTI) Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja praised Arshdeep Singh’s all-round performance in India’s five-wicket win over New Zealand in the first ODI in Auckland, but believes the left-arm pacer could have avoided an expensive end to his spell.India opened their five-match ODI series with a comfortable win at Eden Park on Wednesday, November 4. In a rain-interrupted contest reduced to 32 overs per side, New Zealand were bowled out for 185 before India chased down a revised target of 143 in just 22.4 overs.Virat Kohli led the chase with a fluent 74 while Shubman Gill contributed 37 as the duo combined for 113 runs. India finally crossed the finish line with five wickets and 56 deliveries to spare.With the ball, Arshdeep was India’s leading wicket taker as he claimed four wickets in his 10 overs. However, his figures of 4/70 were inflated by an expensive final over in which New Zealand tailender Blair Tickner hit him for three sixes, taking 23 runs.Assessing the pacer’s performance, Jadeja felt that Arshdeep was impressive for most of his spell but left the opportunity to complete a five-wicket haul to affect his bowling towards the end.“I would call him slightly greedy. He said so himself. If you take away his last over, he dismissed four overs before that and gave away 40 odd runs. He was a bit greedy after the fifth wicket in the last over,” Jadeja said on Sony Sports Network.Arshdeep himself admitted after the match that the fifth wicket would have been his favourite, indicating that he would like to complete the five-wicket haul. Despite falling short of the milestone, his four-wicket effort put him in an exclusive group of Indian fast bowlers to achieve it in ODIs in New Zealand, along with Javagal Srinath and Mohammed Shami.However, Jadeja stressed that the expensive final should not overshadow what Arshdeep brings to India’s bowling mix. He pointed out the value of the left-arm fast bowler in an attack that already features Jasprit Bumrah, adding that competition for the team’s position will only benefit the team.“It happens. It’s natural, but Arshdeep Singh is showing that he can play in ODIs as well, which I think is a very good thing to add a left-arm seamer to this attack with (Jasprit) Bumrah. The competition has increased a lot, which is very good for India,” explained Jadeja.

Jadeja impressed Anshul Kamboj

Jadeja also reserved praise for Anshul Kamboj, who produced an economical spell of 2/22 from his 10 overs and walked away with the Player of the Match award.The former India batsman admitted that Kamboj faced questions about his bowling during his Test debut against England in 2025, particularly about his pace and propensity for no-balls. However, he felt the youngster had shown considerable improvement in Auckland.Jadeja also suggested that Kamboja’s workload ahead of the England assignment may have contributed to his struggles, pointing out that fatigue can affect a bowler’s execution. His performance against New Zealand reflected better pace, consistency and accuracy, according to Jadeja.“He bowled exceptionally well. Everyone had visions that he didn’t have pace when he played in England and bowled a lot of no-balls. I think he came after playing a lot of cricket. So a guy gets tired too. It’s not that easy. He was playing for the first time then, but the consistency and the slight increase in pace he showed today (Wednesday) if we talk about Kamboj’s accuracy,” added Jadeja.