Punjab Kings’ death overs specialist Arshdeep Singh earned a call-up in the Indian team for the upcoming five-match T20 International home series against South Africa starting June 9. The pacer shared how he learned about his selection and said that bowling to the big-hitting Punjab Kings batters in the nets helped him perfect his yorkers.

The 23-year-old got to know the good news on his way to his side’s last league stage match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.

“I got to know just before the match, in the bus that I have got selected in the Indian team. Because the match was going on I didn’t feel much,” Arshdeep told teammate Harpreet Brar after Punjab Kings’ five-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“It will sink in slowly. It is a special moment. I feel lucky and grateful would like to continue like this,” he added.

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The youngster said bowling to world-class batters, including Jonny Bairstow, Shikhar Dhawan and Liam Livingstone, in the Punjab Kings nets session helped him perfect his craft.

“Credit goes to management. They got such batters in the team that the only option to stop them in the nets was by bowling yorkers. And that improved my ability to bowl yorkers,” he said.

Arshdeep ended his IPL 2022 campaign with 10 wickets and an economy rate of 7.70.

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Apart from Arshdeep, Jammu and Kashmir pace sensation Umran Malik also earned his maiden national call-up.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, pacers Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami have all been rested for the series. KL Rahul will be leading the team while Rishabh Pant will be the vice-captain.

India’s T20I squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (vice-captain)(wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.