Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh delivered yet another clinical performance as he successfully defended 20-runs off the final over against Bangladesh in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup fixture at the Adelaide Oval on November 2 (Wednesday). The 23-year-old has emerged as a vital cog in the squad ever since he received a call following his impressive performance in IPL 2022. Even on Wednesday, Singh picked two wickets and conceded 38-runs in his four-over spell.
After India notched up a thrilling victory over their neighbours, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hailed the young prodigy by calling him his 'go-to-man' in the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. Singh has perfectly grabbed the opportunity and has been delivering match-winning performances in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022.
"When he arrived in the international set-up, we asked Arshdeep to bowl in the death overs. With Bumrah not there, someone has to do it for us and take the responsibility. For such a young guy to come and to do it is not easy. But we prepared him for it. The last 9 months he has been doing it. There was a choice between Shami and him, but we backed someone who did the job for us previously," said Rohit Sharma during the post-match presentation.
The Indian skipper also praised ex-captain Virat Kohli for constantly playing magnificent knocks during the T20 World Cup. "We always knew what sort of player he is; it was always a matter of a few innings here and there; he got in the Asia Cup. We never had any doubts and the way he has been batting in this World Cup has been tremendous. He is delivering it in the best possible manner," added Rohit.
The Indian skipper didn’t' forget to acknowledge under-pressure KL Rahul who played a fine innings against Bangladesh after back-to-back poor results. "I liked the way how KL played today. We know what sort of a player he is, if he bats the way he can, he puts the team in a different position," said Rohit Sharma.
While chasing 184, Bangladesh had a fairy-tale start as Litton Das played one of his finest innings in the format until rain played a spoilsport. When the match resumed, Bangladesh were given a revised target of 151 runs in 16 overs. KL Rahul's direct hit then brought an end to Das' 60 off 27 which was followed by a massive batting collapse against India's fierce pace attack and exceptional fielding.
Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya picked two wickets each in the match as Bangladesh fell short of six runs. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli (64 off 44), KL Rahul (50 off 32) and Suryakumar Yadav (30 off 16) made noteworthy contributions with the bat after India were asked to bat first and managed to post 184 in 20 overs.
