Arshdeep's figures of 3 for 44 helped India restrict the West Indies to 209/7 in the chase of 223.
Arshdeep Singh delivered a Player of the Match performance on Sunday (October 11) as India defeated the West Indies by 14 runs in the third T20I at Holkar Stadium, Indore.
Invited to bat first, India posted a massive total of 223 all out, led by a blistering 69 off 30 balls from Abhishek Sharma. The West Indies pushed hard in response but were restricted to 209/7, allowing the hosts to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Arshdeep bounced back from a difficult previous outing in Ranchi—where he went wicketless and conceded 45 runs. In Indore, he led the attack brilliantly with crucial figures of 3/44, castling the dangerous Shai Hope early on and dismantling Sherfane Rutherford's middle stump with a trademark pinpoint death-over yorker.
Unlike earlier games on the tour, dew was not a factor. In fact, the left-arm quick acknowledged that the drier conditions kept the ball crisp, allowing it to start reversing slightly in the back end of the innings, which he exploited perfectly to shut down the West Indies' power hitters.
“[Did the dry conditions help your bowling today?] It's pretty nice. The ball was reversing a bit, and it's always good fun to bowl at death with the ball reversing a little, and it's always nice (to bowl with) the dew as well. But couldn't do well in the last game, so wanted to do good for the team this time and got the right result,” Arshdeep said at the post-match presentation.
Arshdeep rejected the label of "leader" or "senior", emphasizing that the team environment is pretty chilled and this reduces individual pressure and fosters shared accountability.
“[Being a leader of the attack, how do you handle responsibility after a difficult outing?] I mean, there’s no such thing as the leader or the senior in the team. The environment is very chilled right now and we’re just enjoying each other’s success, and whenever someone’s having a bad day, we always make sure that we put our shoulders around them and tell them that they are an integral part of the team. And as an international cricketer, you are bound to have good days and bad days. As long as you’re level-headed, you’ll always come back and do well,” he remarked.
Arshdeep also explained how he maintains his composure in T20I cricket, emphasizing that he genuinely loves the high-pressure moments when batters attack during the opening and death overs as it gives him an opportunity to test his skills and mental strength.
“I genuinely love it. I personally love it whenever the batsmen go harder to in the starting and in the death over as well. It’s a good challenge, it’s good fun, and that’s when you get to test yourself, test your skills and test your mental strength as well in that phase of the game. So it’s good fun,” he stated.
To handle changing conditions, Arshdeep Singh focuses on arriving early to practice with both the new and old ball to sharpen his skills as much as possible. He further said the tight schedules require quick adaptation, noting that the team that adapts fastest to the playing conditions is usually the one that wins.
“The main focus is to just come early, bowl a bit with the new ball, with the old ball, and just sharpen your skills as much as you can. And then, as you said, the schedule is always tight. You just have to adapt quickly. The team which adapts quickly is mostly the team that gets on the right side of the result. So as a team we just try to adapt and play according to the conditions,” he concluded.