Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, acknowledging his costly spell in the fifth T20I against Australia, feared it might affect the team’s chances. Grateful for a final opportunity, he maintained composure and played a crucial role in securing a narrow victory for India.
In the final T20I at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, December 3, the Men in Blue defeated Australia by six runs. India posted 160/8 after being put into bat, and then restricted Australia to 154/8.
Arshdeep had given away 37 runs in the initial three overs. However, in the crucial last over, with Australia requiring 10 runs, he displayed remarkable composure, conceding only three runs.
Reflecting on the match in an interview with JioCinema, the fast bowler shared his perspective, stating:
“I guess, for the big part of the game, for almost 19 overs, I was thinking that I gave away too many runs, and I’d be the culprit of the game. But God gave me another chance and I believed in myself and thanks to God that I defended it and thanks to the staff as well, who believed in.”
The 24-year-old praised captain Suryakumar Yadav for supporting him in challenging situations and instilling confidence in him.
“To be honest, nothing was going in my mind. Surya bhai told me whatever has to happen will happen,” Arshdeep said.
“Credit goes to our batters as well. They gave us a really good total here on a tricky wicket and we had a cushion of extra 15 to 20 runs,” the left-arm pacer added.
The Indian fast bowler initiated the final over with a bouncer to Australia’s captain Matthew Wade (22 off 15). He successfully removed the batsman on the third delivery, essentially securing victory for the Men in Blue.
“I have to think again and do even better”- Arshdeep
Looking back at the five-match T20I series, the left-arm bowler acknowledged that he wasn’t performing at his peak but affirmed his commitment to learning from his mistakes and getting better.
“I need to rethink and perform even better in the future. I will take all the learnings from this series. The bowling wasn’t near par, according to the standards of the Indian team, but a lot of lessons learnt. I will come back from the mistakes,” the bowler concluded.
Arshdeep secured only four wickets in four matches, averaging 42.75 with an economy rate of 10.69.
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