MUMBAI: How many times have you seen a bowler break the middle stump twice in two balls? Arshadeep Singh's incisive Yorkers, which dislodged the middle sticks of Mumbai Indians' batters Tilak Varma and Nihal Wadehera in the final over at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night not only helped the Punjab Kings pull off a 13-run win in a high-scoring thriller, but also cost the BCCI a fair bit.
Apparently, a set of LED stump and zing bails cost around Rs 12 lakhs, and Arshdeep destroyed two of those in that deadly over. It was amusing to see the game being halted each time the left-arm seamer broke the timber. The moment even triggered a funny meme from the Punjab Kings twitter handle, which posted a picture of an Arshdeep yorker destroying Varma's middle stump with a caption: "Hey@MumbaiPolice, we'd like to report a crime."
While he missed out on what would have been a well-deserved hat-trick, Arshdeep, Indian cricket's new 'Yorker King,' who finished with 4-29 on a flat pitch where 415 runs were scored in 40 overs, emphatically announced himself as the best death bowler in IPL-2023.
Flattening the stumps with killer precision, he briefly brought back memories of a certain, magical pair of Pakistan's 'speed merchants Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis doing this kind of a stuff with monotonous regularity in the 90s. The 24-year-old from Punjab is no Wasim or Waqar-he has far much lesser pace-but like the great duo, he possesses the ice cool temperament to execute the yorker in a high-pressure situation. It's a special skill which makes the youngster a difficult prospect to ignore for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. To put it simply, as he showed in the Asia Cup in UAE last year, in the slog overs, Arshdeep, with his calm demeanour and wonderful skill to execute the yorker, is pure gold dust for any captain.
During that final over on Saturday, Arshdeep was the toast of his team, with his stand-in-captain Sam Curran, who is himself a left-arm seamer and Liam Livingstone marvelling at his ability to fire in the yorker at will. "I don't think personally I should be getting the Man of the Match [award], [after] the way the boys closed out the game. Arshdeep and Nathan were incredible. The spinners bowled really well," Curran said.
The young Punjab Kings pace bowler attributed his success in the ongoing edition of the IPL -he now wears the 'Purple hat' for being highest wicket-taker with 13 sticks in 7 games at an incredible average of 15.60 and economy rate of 8.16-to remaining calm under pressure and changing his run-up. It has helped him avoid a scourge which has plagued the early part of his career-bowling no balls. During the second game of the T20I series against Sri Lanka at home in January, in Pune, he overstepped as many as five times, leaving Indian captain Hardik Pandya furious with the young turk.
"It feels good whenever I take wickets. The win makes the feeling better. Before the IPL, I changed my run-up and it helped me with avoiding no-balls. The rhythm is nice and I'm enjoying my cricket right now," Arshdeep said at the post-match presentation. "Calmness comes naturally, my heart rate doesn't even go up to 120," he added.
Arshdeep's teammate Jitesh Sharma, whose 25 off seven balls helped PBKS post a score of 214 for eight, lauded Arshdeep for being a keen learner of the game. "Obviously, because we do it in the nets, we are able to do it in the match. It's not a wonder or magic thing. He works in the nets, around the wicket, over the wicket and wide Yorkers. His hard work paid off today. He is a smart bowler and is someone who is very keen and eager to learn every day. He talks to me. He pushes himself to improve day by day," Jitesh said.
There's a feeling that in future, Arshdeep could be a handy weapon for India in Tests too, particularly in overseas conditions, where he could make the ball move around a lot more. "The way he swings the ball into the right-handers, he can be deadly in England. India must look to groom him for those conditions," a former India cricketer had told TOI recently.
