Arshdeep Singh has something to cheer.
Arshdeep Singh has something to cheer. The morning after his terrible performance against Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super-Four match, bowler Arshdeep Singh met with coach Jaswant Rai.
After being mocked online for his dropped catch of Asif Ali, Arshdeep spent the rest of the day and night ruminating about his full throw that led to the winning boundary. Rai had reason to celebrate Monday at his Chandigarh Academy after being selected to the Indian team of 15 players for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The team reassured Arshdeep that he did not need to fear because he had already put in the necessary effort. He told me he couldn’t sleep after dropping the catch against Pakistan and almost protected seven runs in the final.
He said he doesn’t give a hoot about the haters and that all he was thinking about was whether or not he could pull off the yorker.
Statements
This is the biggest stage for any cricketer, and Arshdeep’s willingness to learn from his mistakes will serve him and India well at the T20 World Cup,” Rai told The Indian Express.
In 2015, Arshdeep and his parents, Darshan Singh and Baljeet Kaur, visited Rai at his academy in Sector 36. The kid has since risen to prominence, becoming one of the league’s premier death-overs bowlers.
In the last 12 months, he has been the most effective bowler for Punjab Kings, taking 10 wickets in 14 games while maintaining an economy rate of 7.58 in the death overs. In the previous season, Arshdeep had the second-best strike rate among the top 10 wicket-takers, at 13.77, and had taken 18 wickets.
As a young cricketer, Arshdeep’s greatest strength was that he could come up with six various ways to pitch a ball. But I knew he couldn’t get good at it until he practiced all the different permutations.
So we came up with a scheme where I’d stand near the wickets and have him bowl 5m, 6m, or 7m length balls into boxes on the ground as he started his delivery stride in an effort to educate his mind to make split-second adjustments, as Rai recalls.
T20
Since making his India debut earlier this year, Arshdeep has taken 14 wickets in 11 Twenty20 Internationals at an average of 20.14 and a strike rate of 16.3.
His 7.38 efficiency is impressive, according to coach Rai. In India’s first game in the United Arab Emirates, he took two wickets against Pakistan and ended up picking up three more throughout the tournament. “When he was younger, I made him bowl with a tennis ball to grasp the length better. He got better at keeping his wrists and seams together as he got older.
We worked on his posture, including bringing his arm closer to his ear for in-swing and further from his ear for out-swing, even though his wrists are the primary weapon behind his slow and fast bouncers.
A fielder at fine leg would teach him to aim the ball in that direction for an in-swing, while a fielder at first slip would teach him the opposite for an out-swing. We did that for twenty-five to thirty balls in each session, twice a day, and it’s permanently ingrained in his brain.
Looking ahead
Arshdeep will join Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Hardik Pandya in Australia as India’s pace quartet. He has been working with Rai to get used to Australian pitches larger than those in India.
Those who are familiar with left-arm pace bowling have taken notice of Arshdeep’s exploits.
He told me, “Well done, sardar ji, Bahut achha ball dal rahe hai (you are bowling very well),” after the match against Pakistan. Many veteran players have told him in the last week that his slog over bowling was crucial in the victories over Pakistan and Sri Lanka. What more could a coach want from Arshdeep? Completed with Rai’s signature.