da cassino online： The Punjab Kings seamer, who has been picked for India’s T20I squad, talks about his success as a death bowler this IPL season
da marjack bet： Interview by Hemant Brar02-Jun-2022Punjab Kings were on their way to the Wankhede Stadium for the last league game of IPL 2022 when Arshdeep Singh heard he had been picked for India’s T20I squad for the South Africa series. With a match on hand, he couldn’t let the excitement overwhelm him at the time, but as the series gets closer, the feeling has been sinking in.Arshdeep was retained by Punjab ahead of the season, and he repaid that trust by becoming their go-to bowler in the death overs. Among those who bowled at least ten overs at the death, his economy of 7.58 in that phase was second only to Jasprit Bumrah’s 7.38. Overall, he picked up ten wickets in 14 games at an economy of 7.70. Arshdeep spoke about what went into the making of his breakout season.Was there any pressure of being a retained player for Punjab Kings?
There was no pressure as such. Whenever you get a chance for a team, you try to give your 100%, no matter if it’s your first year or tenth, if you have been retained or have come through the auction. If a team has shown confidence in you, you have to do well for them and give your 100%.Related
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How do you see your growth as a bowler in the last couple of years?
I feel I am a lot more consistent now. Earlier I used to bowl loose balls in between. Now I have worked on that a lot so that I don’t give the batter that release ball. All the batters who come to play in the IPL are quite experienced. They are aware and are good enough to hit you for a boundary whenever they get a bad ball. That’s one thing I have worked on a lot, that I consistently bowl in good areas with a good plan. In the coming days, the focus will be on how to improve it further.What specific drills did you do to become more consistent?
I did a lot of single-wicket practice. Lots of repetitions of length ball and yorker. After doing it so many times in practice, you start understanding where your ball will land if you run at this particular speed with this particular angle.. I guess with all those repetitions, you start getting that feeling and that makes a lot of difference.Are you working on improving your bowling speed as well?
Right now, I am trying to focus on consistency. The main thing is how consistent I am in hitting those lines and lengths, and in executing my plans.What about the fitness part?
As a sportsperson, the goal is to stay as fit as possible. Every season, every month, every day, you try to work on it so that when you wake up in the morning, you feel energetic and not fatigued. So that’s the main focus – to maintain a good fitness level and that’s what I have been working on.”I feel I am a lot more consistent now. That’s one thing I have worked on a lot, that I consistently bowl in good areas with a good plan”•BCCIHave you made any changes to your diet to achieve that?
As you know, it’s not easy to follow a diet in Punjabi households.Adrian Le Roux, our trainer at Punjab Kings, says that the best way of recovery is to sleep for at least eight hours [in a day] and keep yourself hydrated. I try to tick those boxes and it has helped my game a lot.You and Jasprit Bumrah bowled the joint-most yorkers this IPL season. Is that a delivery you worked specifically on?
As I said earlier, repetitions make a lot of difference, because your control improves tremendously and you start getting the confidence that you can bowl it in the match as well. You practise with a normal ball, or with a slightly wet ball if there’s a chance of dew in the game. Sometimes you bowl to a batsman, sometimes you do single-wicket practice. Sometimes you can place boots or some other target to aim at. You can even challenge other bowlers in the nets to see who can hit the target the most times. That adds a fun element.You were the designated death-overs bowler for your team this season. Was that something communicated to you in advance?
I guess the team’s combination was such that I was supposed to bowl one over at the start, one in the middle and two at the death. I was told before the tournament what my role would be. So in the practice games, I bowled accordingly. I thank the team management a lot for the role clarity they gave me. That helped me immensely as I knew when I have to bowl and so I could plan accordingly.When did you start feeling confident that you could bowl well at the death?
I guess the first thing is, you must have that self-belief. Only then others will show confidence in you. Whenever you step onto the field, you step on with the confidence that no matter who is up against you, you will back your skills and do well for your team. You reach this level only if you have the required skills. After that, it is about who can adapt to the situation in the middle and excel.