In the men's T20 World Cup, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh had given breakthroughs with the new ball against Pakistan and South Africa. But against Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, 2 November he was hit for three fours by Litton Das in his first over of the night.
After rain changed Bangladesh's target to 151 in 16 overs, Arshdeep landed the killer blow on the side's chances of making an upset win. In the 12th over, he took out Afif Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan by having them caught in the deep in a bid to go for the big shots.
He then returned to bowl the final over of the innings and held his nerve again in defending 20 runs against Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed. Though Hasan hit him for a six and four, Arshdeep kept his calm and delivered pin-point balls on the blockhole to seal a tense five-run win for India.
"My focus was always on consistency. You cannot afford to give too many loose balls at the international level. I want to be good while bowling with the new ball and with the old ball. I want to pick wickets or control runs as per the need," said Arshdeep to former India left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan on the 'Follow the Blues' show on Star Sports.
With no Jasprit Bumrah in the side, who would step up to handle his quota of bowling in the powerplay and at the death overs was one of the biggest concerns for India. But Arshdeep has stood up to take on the responsibility and fulfilled it with aplomb so far.
He also credited bowling coach Paras Mhambrey for helping him with improving his run-up ahead of the mega event.
"Paras Mhambrey worked with me on my run-up. He said, if I come straight, I will get more consistency with my line. You cannot afford bad lines on Australia wickets so I am putting efforts to come straight and I am able to see the results but I hope to do better."
In his short but glowing T20I career, Arshdeep has showcased his ability to swing the new ball at the start and deliver pinpoint yorkers at the death overs apart from using the bouncer as a change-up option.
But what has also been heartwarming is his calm composure and absolute clarity to execute plans under pressure.
Arshdeep signed off by saying that practicing at Perth for ten days before starting their campaign also came in handy for the bowlers.
"Entire team prepared well for the World Cup. We reached Perth around one week before and worked on our lengths because everyone had different lengths. So while practicing we were able to figure out the lengths with bounce. I guess with good preparation we get good results."
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