'It Seemed Like he Was in Control': Abhishek Nayar Lavishes Praise on Arshdeep Singh For Final Over Heroics in 5th T20I

Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar heaped praise on left-arm paceman Arshdeep Singh for his impressive bowling in the final over of the fifth T20I match against Australia at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Arshdeep had a tough task in the final over with 10 runs to defend and Aussie skipper Matthew Wade looking in good touch.

However, the young pacer held his nerves and delivered a couple of dot balls before dismissing Wade on the third delivery, which almost wrapped up the game for the hosts.

Arshdeep had a tough outing before the final over as he conceded 37 in his first three but he made sure to redeem himself and seal a win for India. He gave away just three runs from the over as India registered a 6-run win.

Nayar was impressed with the variations Arshdeep used in his final over, especially, the short ball on the first delivery.

“He had conceded 37 runs in his first three overs, so he would have been under pressure, and he was not executing his yorkers. The most impressive thing for me was the short ball he used on the first ball,” Nayar said on JioCinema.

Nayar suggested that with the short ball, Arshdeep managed to put doubts in Wade’s mind as he was expecting a yorker on the first delivery.

“You saw Wade getting quite angry. He felt it was a wide. He challenged Wade’s mentality because sitting outside too, you were expecting him to bowl a yorker. From his (Arshdeep’s) body language and his thinking, it seemed like he was in control,” he added.

The former cricketer pointed out how difficult job it was for Arshdeep to defend 10 runs against a confident Wade.

“When we were watching from outside, Suryakumar Yadav was asking the entire audience to back Arshdeep because it’s not easy. We have seen how Wade has batted and he was looking quite confident as well.”

However, Arshdeep’s character in the crunch situation did impress Nayar.

“10 runs were needed, they were just one hit away, but the way he (Arshdeep) executed the yorkers, especially against Wade, I believe he showed a lot of character,” he concluded.