Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Pacer Arshdeep Singh looked alert for Punjab Kings (PBKS) against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on March 25. In their opening contest, Punjab defended 243 runs successfully on the batting-friendly turf and Arshdeep played a vital role in containing Gujarat. In the 13th over of the second innings, Arshdeep stepped up and got rid of Sai Sudharsan, who was looking in brilliant touch with his bat. Sudharsan departed after scoring a brisk 74 (41) while attempting to come heavily on Arshdeep’s swinging delivery. Following the opener’s dismissal, Sherfane Rutherford walked into the middle.
As soon as the West Indies player came to bat, Arshdeep was seen passing a message to his captain Shreyas Iyer for bringing a right-arm bowler Vyshak Vijaykumar as an Impact Player. Rutherford, who is a left-handed batter, would’ve faced a difficulty in picking the right-arm Vyshak’s wide yorkers. For Rutherford, countering left-handers Arshdeep and Marco Jansen wouldn’t have been a big deal as compared to Vyshak.
Vyshak produces an impactful spell in PBKS' victory
Vyshak looked effective with the ball for Punjab. The speedster didn’t get any wickets in the game but splurged only 28 runs in his three-over spell. He showcased his bowling brilliance in GT’s 17th over, when he gave away only five runs. His economical bowling affected GT eventually as the IPL 2022 champions fell 11 runs short while chasing the total.
Punjab will look to replicate their performance against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium on April 1. Before hosting PBKS, LSG will face the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) challenge on March 27.
