New Delhi: India veteran Ravichandran Ashwin praised seamer Arshdeep Singh for his brilliant 19th over under pressure against West Indies in the must-win Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup in Kolkata on Sunday.
Although Ashdeep returned with figures of 0/43 without the ball in his four overs, he conceded just six runs in the penultimate over with the help of big batsmen Rovman Powell and Jason Holder at the crease.
Ashwin feels this has been overlooked, saying bowlers are often judged purely on the basis of their wickets – a mentality that was fostered by the IPL Purple Cap competition.
Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 97 helped India win by five wickets at Eden Gardens, sealing a semi-final berth in the crucial match.
“Ardeep Singh scored over 40 runs in four overs but maybe his 19th was underrated. People always take decisions without a wicket. We are used to seeing purple caps in the IPL. He didn’t get a wicket but the execution of the 19th over, even though he didn’t get a wicket, completely broke their momentum. It was a crucial over. West Indies could have ended 210-220 as well,” he said on his YouTube said on the channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.
Ashdeep has taken eight wickets in six matches of the tournament so far, averaging 21.37 and an economy rate of 7.77.
Ashwin, however, pointed out that despite India’s attacking prowess, India’s bowling has lacked sharp execution in the past few games.
“In the last two to three games, I felt India’s bowling, a little bit, wasn’t executing well enough. They have a lot of ability but they made some little mistakes. You need to know exactly when to defend and when to attack. I don’t want to pick examples, but There were at least three or four times where we could have bowled the overs but we didn’t and that’s my only problem, if you’re playing a tight game and you’re giving away a boundary just because you’re looking for a chance, that’s a little bit not good. A run can cost a lot,” he said.
