India left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh made a triumphant return to the Men in Blue side after a short break and earned a Player of the Match award in the first T20I of the three-match series against South Africa in Trivandrum on September 28.
Arshdeep Singh picked 3/32 and along with Deepak Chahar’s 2/24 routed the South African batting lineup reducing them to 9/5 after the Proteas were asked to bat first by Rohit Sharma who won the toss.
However, South Africa managed to make 106/8 with Keshav Maharaj making 41 and Aiden Markram and Wayne Parnell also making 20-odd runs.
Suryakumar Yadav’s 50* and KL Rahul’s 51* helped India to win by 8 wickets on a difficult pitch to bat on.
After Arshdeep Singh got the Player of the Match award, he said that the focus right now was on adaptability for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 which will be held in Australia from 16 October to 13 November.
Arshdeep is part of the main Indian squad for the tournament and said that Indian bowlers are geared up for the tough challenge that awaits them.
“Adaptability is the big motive of our team. The main motive is adapting to the situations and demands of the team, whatever the situations and conditions are. When we go there (Australia) we will see how the conditions are. I’m looking forward to doing well,” he said.
“We are trying to tick all the boxes in the practice sessions and trying to execute all our plans on the field. Today (Wednesday) was really a good example of showing a good power play bowling and we are looking forward to do amazing things in the coming days,” Arshdeep said.
Arshdeep had an impressive outing despite some disappointing outcomes in the Asia Cup 2022 and will be a key to India’s death overs bowling woes. He was rested for the Australia T20I series after the continental event where he worked on his bowling in the NCA and came back refreshed.
“The purpose of the last 10 days was to get refreshed and come back stronger and fitter which will help me in my bowling. I feel really refreshed and looking forward to doing good things on the field,” Arshdeep said after his exploits with the ball.
Arshdeep, who made his debut on the tour of England in July this year, said he always strives to give his best on the field without bothering about selection.
“They told me you’re ‘in the plan’ back end of the IPL, that I’m in the scene… I guess the main motive was to keep doing well whatever opportunities I get, that’s my job and I don’t think much about the selection part,” he said.
He also credited his senior teammate Chahar for holding up the pressure from the other end.
“Getting the wickets early on was always a great feeling. The plan was really simple, the ball was swinging. I had to pitch it in the right places and it worked well. It was about hitting the right areas and making sure the line was good.
We practice in every type of situation, our job is to adapt to the situations and do well for the team. Today (Wednesday) it was more about the new ball and we worked really well as a pair, a lot of credit goes to DC bhai as well,” he signed off.
(PTI inputs)
