"I visualized myself getting five wickets"- Arshdeep Singh to Avesh Khan after incredible performance in IND vs SA 1st ODI
Arshdeep Singh was the star of the show for India in the first ODI against South Africa as he picked up sensational figures of 5/37 and helped the Men in Blue thump the hosts by eight wickets.
The left-arm seamer claimed that he had manifested winning the Player of the Match award and was delighted that it panned out exactly as he had hoped for.
Speaking to Avesh Khan in a video posted by BCCI, here's what Arshdeep Singh had to say about his performance:
"It will seem like I am making this up, but before sleeping yesterday, I visualized myself winning the Player of the Match award, getting five wickets and doing my aeroplane celebration. I just try to be in a positive mindset and even the support staff helps me in that no matter what the result. Just focusing on doing all the good things and I am feeling really good."
He further added:
"Feeling really great and I have to say that the photoshoot I did with you gave me a lot of motivation (Avesh laughs). It made me push to do well. The plan was just to bowl in the line of the stumps and get batters LBW or bowled. There was enough help in the pitch."
Avesh Khan feels Arshdeep Singh's spell helped him get into his element
Avesh Khan also had a brilliant game, picking up four wickets and conceding just 27 runs. He reckons that the start that Arshdeep Singh gave made it easier for the Madhya Pradesh pacer to just follow up and maintain the pressure on the opposition.
On this, Avesh stated:
"You (Arshdeep) had set it up nicely for me with 2-3 early wickets and that made my job easier. I was just trying to bowl wicket-to-wicket and keep up the pressure and it was great that I picked four wickets."
He further added:
"I was just trying to focus on whatever was in my control. Even when I was not playing in T20Is, I was preparing for the ODIs by bowling 7-8 overs in the nets. The workload is different in ODIs and so I try to focus on my process and try to get the best out of myself for the team."
Apart from Arshdeep and Avesh, Sai Sudharsan stood out with the bat against the Proteas, scoring 55* on debut.