In the 2026 Duleep Trophy quarterfinal, Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh took advantage of a unique chance to play red-ball cricket, scoring 3/53 and 1/40 as North Zone defeated West Zone by 52 runs in Bengaluru. In the Duleep Trophy 2026 quarterfinal, which took place at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from August 23 to 26, 2026, North Zone defeated West Zone by 52 runs.
With scores of 3 for 53 and 1 for 40 throughout the course of the two innings, Arshdeep Singh produced a game-winning effort. North Zone’s victory guaranteed them a spot in the semi-final matchup with South Zone, which starts on Sunday, August 30.
Arshdeep was pleased with his performance and emphasised that he was able to test his stamina and develop his bowling rhythm during the contest. He said, “Very rarely do I get the chance to play red-ball cricket. And this was a chance. I wanted to showcase my skill set and just see how many overs I can bowl. The rhythm feels nice. After a long time, I was playing a red-ball game. I put in a lot of hours in practice, and it felt nice. The body is sore, but it’s a good sore because we got the win.”
After being absent from red-ball cricket for nearly a year, Arshdeep Singh made a comeback. Despite playing in 18 ODIs and 91 T20Is for India, the left-arm bowler is yet to make his Test debut. He has taken 71 wickets at an average of 30.26 in 23 first-class games, including two five-wicket hauls that show his versatility in longer formats.
Despite playing in 91 Twenty20 Internationals and 18 One Day Internationals for India, Arshdeep has not yet made his Test debut. With 135 wickets in T20Is and 30 in ODIs, he is India’s top wicket-taker in T20Is, surpassing Jasprit Bumrah’s 121.
Regarding the second quarterfinal, North Zone dismissed West Zone for 187 after scoring 251 in their first innings. North Zone, headed by Kanhaiya Wadhawan, was knocked out for 22 in their second innings. In the fourth inning, West Zone needed 287 runs to prevail. But before getting bowled out, they were only able to reach 234. After taking nine wickets and scoring 23 runs in the two innings, Abid Mushtaq was named Player of the Match.
