Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja has praised Arshdeep Singh’s overall performance in India’s five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first ODI in Auckland, but believes the left-arm pacer could have avoided an expensive finish to his spell.India began 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 the 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 stitched together a 113-run partnership. India eventually crossed the finish line with five wickets to spare and 56 deliveries remaining.With the ball, Arshdeep was India’s leading wicket-taker, claiming 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 struck him for three sixes, taking 23 runs off the over.Assessing the pacer’s performance, Jadeja felt Arshdeep had been impressive for most of his spell but allowed the opportunity to complete a five-wicket haul to influence his bowling towards the end.“I would call him slightly greedy. He himself said that as well. If you remove his last over, he had dismissed four batters before that and had given 40-odd runs. He got slightly greedy for the fifth wicket in the last over,” Jadeja said on Sony Sports Network.Arshdeep had himself admitted after the match that the fifth wicket would have been his favourite, indicating that he was keen to complete a five-wicket haul. Despite missing out on the milestone, his four-wicket effort placed him in an exclusive group of Indian fast bowlers to achieve the feat in an ODI in New Zealand, alongside Javagal Srinath and Mohammed Shami.Jadeja, however, stressed that the expensive final over should not overshadow what Arshdeep brings to India’s bowling combination. He pointed to the value of having a left-arm fast bowler in an attack that already features Jasprit Bumrah, adding that the competition for places would only benefit the team.“It happens. It’s natural, but Arshdeep Singh is showing that he can play in ODIs as well, which I believe is a very good thing when a left-arm seamer gets added to this attack with (Jasprit) Bumrah. The competition has increased a lot, which is very good for India,” Jadeja elaborated.
Jadeja impressed with Anshul Kamboj
Jadeja also reserved praise for Anshul Kamboj, who delivered an economical spell of 2/22 from his 10 overs and walked away with the Player of the Match award.The former India batter acknowledged that Kamboj had faced questions over his bowling during his Test debut against England in 2025, particularly regarding his pace and tendency to bowl no-balls. However, he felt the youngster had shown considerable improvement in Auckland.Jadeja also suggested that Kamboj’s workload before the England assignment could have contributed to his struggles, pointing out that fatigue can affect a bowler’s execution. His performance against New Zealand, according to Jadeja, reflected better pace, consistency and accuracy.“He bowled extremely well. The vision everyone had was that he didn’t have pace when he played in England and was bowling a lot of no-balls. I think he had come after playing a lot of cricket then. So a guy also gets tired. It’s not that easy. Then he was playing for the first time, but the consistency and the slight increase in his pace he showed today (Wednesday), if we talk about the accuracy amongst the four bowlers, it’s Anshul Kamboj,” Jadeja added.
