Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper KL Rahul o Monday (April 12) showered rich praise on young pacer Arshdeep Singh, stating that the latter enjoys bowling in the pressure situation.
Notably, Arshdeep successfully defended 13 runs in the final over in his team’s IPL 2021 opener against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Wankhede Stadium.
He was bowling to the rampaging Sanju Samson in the 20th over but held his nerve to secure a four-run win for PBKS.
"I had gone to Arshdeep for crucial overs last year too. He doesn't mind bowling the pressure overs, he seems to enjoy it. He loves being in the contest. Love throwing him the ball. He's pretty clear with what he wants to do," Rahul said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Chasing 222 to win, RR batting line-up faltered under pressure except for Samson, who took the Punjab attack to the cleaners and notched up his third IPL century.
While his valiant ton kept Rajasthan in the chase, Samson failed to take his team over the line. In the final over, the captain hit the fourth delivery for a maximum before refusing to take a single on the penultimate ball and then getting out on the last ball for 119 off 63 balls, including 12 fours and 7 sixes.
Rahul admitted that bowling against Samson was quite difficult. The Punjab Kings skipper also said he didn't think about the last year's game where Rahul Tewatia had rescued RR from a similar position.
"Heart rate was high but I didn't stop believing. We knew a couple of wickets would bring us back. Till first 10-11 overs we bowled well. It was close because we dropped a few sitters, including me," said Rahul.
"As a bowling unit, we bowled as we planned. When you're bowling against Sanju, it's difficult. We weren't thinking of the last year's game (the Tewatia one). Great way to start. We made some mistakes," he further remarked.
Earlier, PBKS piled up a massive 221/6 in their allotted 20 overs. Rahul (91 off 50 balls), Deepak Hooda (64 off 28 balls) and Chris Gayle (40 off 28 balls) were the stars with the bat.
"Deepak Hooda's innings was amazing. That's the kind of batting we want to see as a team. We want to bat fearlessly and takedown bowlers," said Rahul.
Punjab Kings will take on Chennai Super Kings in their next game on Friday (April 16).
(With ANI inputs)
