Mumbai, Apr 14 (IANS): Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the Punjab Kings' pacer Arshdeep Singh is close towards an Indian team call-up. He added that the left-arm pacer Arshdeep could be a better choice as Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not in his usual form.

"India keeps going back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a wonderful bowler but today if you were to compare Bhuneshwar and Arshdeep, the latter is a much better bowler to have in your T20 side," Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

In the last match against Mumbai Indians, Arshdeep did not take any wicket, but Manjrekar said that the left-arm bowler was quite impressive keeping in mind he only gave away 29 runs in four overs.

"Certainly, in the top five, certainly a place in the squad. He must be wondering 'what more do I have to do?' because today was another night where you are looking at people like Suryakumar Yadav who must be saying 'I can't hit this guy, might as well take off a single'. That is something you do against the (Jasprit) Bumrahs and the (Lasith) Malingas of the past," he said.

A superb batting by Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal followed by a brilliant bowling effort by Odean Smith (4/30) helped Punjab Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 12 runs. It was the fifth-successive loss for the five times champions Mumbai Indians as they remain the only winless side in the ongoing IPL 2022 season.