India pacer Arshdeep Singh attributed his success in the Asia Cup Super 4s match against Sri Lanka in the Super Over to his ability to hit the wide yorkers. Sri Lankan batsmen Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera hammered Arshdeep for 26 runs in two overs on Friday, taking him to the cleaners.
However, the left-arm pacer recovered admirably, giving up only two runs in the Super Over while also dismissing Dasun Shanaka and Perera.
“My feeling was that…we got hit in the Power Play, but everyone chipped in later and took the game to Super Over. My plan in the Super Over was clear — bowl wide yorkers, and make them score on the off-side,” said Arshdeep in a video posted by BCCI.
After the scores were tied at 202 in regular time, India won the Super Over thanks to a perfectly executed plan that saw both Perera and Shanaka caught at deep point by substitute fielder Rinku Singh and deep backward point by another substitute fielder, Jitesh Sharma.
Due in large part to the characteristics of the Dubai pitch, India has stayed with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya in the ongoing Asia Cup, while Arshdeep has only played two games. He hasn’t let down the team though.
“I always try to keep myself mentally ready. Whenever you go to bed, you should feel that you have given your 100 percent. Whenever you are not playing you should give your 100 percent off the field, hold the players who are playing, train well, work on your fitness.”
The 26-year-old became the first India bowler to reach 100 wickets in T20 Internationals. He was the third-fastest player (64 matches) to attain the milestone, behind Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (53) and Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane (54).
But the left-armer prefers to stay in the moment and focus on honing his craft.
“You just need to enjoy the present irrespective of the situation. Whenever my turn comes — contain the runs, build the pressure and take wickets. New ball, old ball, first innings or second innings, I just need to adapt to the situations.
“Fortunately, I got lot of good partners whether it’s Bhuvi bhai, Shami bhai, Bumrah bhai or Hardik bhai. We just try to keep the pressure up. I need to thank all of them,” he added.
