India pacer Arshdeep Singh put on a stunning show for Punjab Kings in their IPL 2023 season opener at home, in Mohali, against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday. Arshdeep picked three wickets in PBKS’ narrow-seven run win via DLS in the rain-hit encounter, two of which came with the new ball. The one for the highlight reel was however his wicked send-off to a KKR batter in his second wicket, which has everyone talking on social media.
Agression is usually associated with pace bowlers, but it ain’t synonymous with Arshdeep. But the left-arm pacer admitted that on Saturday, his celebration was a reaction to KKR batter Anukul Roy’s response with the bat on his deliveries.
It happened in the very second over of the innings when Arshdeep deceived Anukul with a shorter delivery. The batter reacted with a pull shot, but failed to time it properly as it landed safely into the hands of Sikander Raza at mid-wicket. Arshdeep celebrated by giving a death stare at Anukul.
“He (Anukul Roy) was my batch mate in under-19 cricket. He started to hit me straightaway so I wanted to show aggression. He was also showing aggression so my aggression also came out a bit. Players are expecting that I will bowl yorkers so I tried to surprise them a bit by bowling bouncers,” the left-arm seamer later told the host broadcaster after collecting his Player of the Match trophy.
Earlier in that very over, Arshdeep had dismissed KKR opener Mandeep Singh with a shorter delivery as well. Mandeep had miscued the pull shot which went straight to the fielder at deep square leg. Arsheep later returned for his final over where he dismissed Venkatesh Iyer. The short-ball ploy worked magic for the left-armer once again as Rahul Chahar completed the dismissal with a comfortable catch at backward point.
“There was some rain around so the wicket had become skiddy, so I was using making use of the conditions on offer. I am enjoying myself and the atmosphere in the dressing room is very good. Going ahead, we will try to keep enjoying and keep winning games for our side,” Arshdeep added.
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