The last four/five days have been extremely challenging for young left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. He has been tasked with bowling tough overs in crunch Asia Cup matches while the Punjab Kings pacer was also subjected to intense criticism on social media after he dropped Asif Ali's catch during the game between India and Pakistan.
In back-to-back Asia Cup matches, Arshdeep was tasked to defend seven runs in the final over. The 23-year-old bowled brilliantly, nailed the yorkers and varied his pacer and lengths but his hard work didn't help India register a win in either match.
In the game against Sri Lanka on September 6 (Tuesday), the left-arm medium pacer nailed four back-to-back yorkers in the first four balls of the final over and conceded just five runs. However, on the fifth delivery both Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep lacked preciseness with their throw and as a result of over throws, Sri Lanka closed the game with one ball to spare.
In the last over, captain Rohit Sharma was spotted indulging in lengthy conversations with Arshdeep in order to ensure the fielders are positioned in the right places. In one of those conversations, the Indian captain was also spotted walking away from Arshdeep Singh when he came up with some suggestions.
Rohit, however, defended his bowler in the press conference when he was quizzed about Arshdeep's drop catch against Pakistan.
"Honestly, guys here don't look too much into social media these days. We don't look much into a few losses or a dropped catch. He (Arshdeep) was himself disappointed because it was a catch that could've been taken," Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
