ADELAIDE: Left-arm bowler Arshdeep Singh made breakthroughs with the new ball against Pakistan and South Africa at the Men's T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Litton Das' first over of the evening against Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday saw him be smacked for three fours.
Arshdeep dealt Bangladesh's chances of pulling off an unexpected victory the death blow as rain altered the team's aim to 151 in 16 overs. He eliminated Afif Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan in the 12th over by having them caught in the deep in an effort to go for the big hits.
After that, he came back to bowl the innings' penultimate over, protecting 20 runs against Nurul Hasan and Taskin Ahmed while maintaining composure. Despite being hammered by Hasan for a six and a four, Arshdeep maintained composure and struck the blockhole with pinpoint accuracy to give India a tense five-run victory.
"Consistency was always my main priority. On a global scale, you cannot afford to throw away too many loose balls. Both when using the new ball and the old ball, I want to bowl well. Depending on the situation, I want to limit runs or pick wickets "Irfan Pathan, a former left-arm pacer for India, was speaking to Arshdeep on Star Sports' "Follow the Blues" programme.
One of India's major worries was who would step up to handle Jasprit Bumrah's share of bowling in the powerplay and in the death overs. However, Arshdeep stepped up to accept the duty and has so far carried it out expertly. He also gave Paras Mhambrey, his bowling instructor, credit for assisting him in enhancing his run-up in advance of the major competition "I worked on my run-up with Paras Mhambrey. He advised me to be more honest so that my line would be more consistently followed. On Australia wickets, you cannot afford to have bad lines, so I am working hard to come straight and I can see the effects, but I hope to perform better."
Apart from using the bouncer as a change-up option, Arshdeep has demonstrated in his brief but impressive T20I career his ability to swing the new ball at the start and throw pinpoint yorkers at the dying overs. But what has also been endearing is his ability to remain composed under duress and to implement ideas with complete clarity.
Arshdeep concluded by adding that the bowlers also benefited from 10 days of practise in Perth before to the start of their campaign. "The entire team made good World Cup preparations. We worked on our lengths because everyone had varied lengths when we arrived in Perth about a week earlier. As a result, we were able to calculate the lengths with bounce while practising. I suppose solid planning leads to good results."
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