Arshdeep Singh felt that it was simply divine intervention and unhinged faith from his skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, that enabled him to defend 10 runs in the final over of a thrilling fifth T20 International, wherein India pipped Australia by just six runs.
The left-arm seamer has been profligate at the death in T20Is for more than one year, and after giving away 37 runs in his first three overs on Sunday, no one would have thought that he would be able to defend just 10 with the dangerous Matthew Wade on strike.
IND vs AUS, 5th T20I: Arshdeep Singh holds nerve in tense final over as India wins series 4-1
“I gave away too many runs but God gave me another chance and the support staff believed in me. To be honest, nothing was going in my mind. Surya bhai told me whatever has to happen will happen,” a beaming Arshdeep said at the end of the match, having nailed those block-hole deliveries, giving away only three runs.
On his own bowling, he said, “A lot of lessons learnt but I will come back from the mistakes.”
Surya hails team after 4-1 series win
Skipper Surya felt that the young team ticked all boxes in a comprehensive series win by 4-1 margin.
“It was a good series. The way the boys showed their skills was commendable. We wanted to be fearless, we wanted to enjoy when we were in the middle. I told them, “do whatever is right and just enjoy your game,” and they did the same. So very happy with that.”
Surya admitted that had there been Washington Sundar to support the two spinners, they would have won more easily as the pitch assisted slow bowlers.
“If he (Washington Sundar) would have been there it’d have been an add-on. At Chinnaswamy, 200+ is easier to chase. 160-175 is a tricky told here. After 10 overs, I told the boys that we have a game on.”
Axar delivers goods once again
Player of the match Axar Patel had no hesitation in admitting that it was fun to bowl on a track with no dew to make life easy for batters.
“Today was fun. There was dew in the first four matches. Today, it was a tailor-made wicket for me. After a couple of games, I was able to find my rhythm.” Having already bowled alongside Ravi Bishnoi in a few Syed Mushtaq Ali games for Gujarat, it became easier to operate in tandem, the senior spinner said.
“We played a few games together for Gujarat as well. We complement each other, hope this partnership grows.” Bishnoi, the ‘Player of the series’ said that he didn’t want to pitch it up as there was a chance to get hit.
“My plan is simple - bowling stump to stump works, just short of length works, pitching it up can be hit. I wanted to be a typical leg-spinner by bringing the long-on up.” The challenge will be different on away tour to South Africa, a place where he played the U19 World Cup in 2020.
“South Africa will throw different pitches, so but I’ll try to attack there too.”
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