"Even Rabada was not bowling as well as he did" - Aakash Chopra lauds Arshdeep Singh's performances in IPL 2022
Aakash Chopra has lauded Arshdeep Singh for his exceptional performances in IPL 2022 and pointed out that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) left-arm pacer even outshone his illustrious teammate Kagiso Rabada.
Arshdeep, with 10 scalps to his name, was not among the highest wicket-takers in the recently concluded edition of the Indian Premier League. However, he was quite economical, considering he was mostly asked to bowl the difficult overs.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra spoke about some of the uncapped Indian pacers who impressed him the most in IPL 2022. He had the following to say about Arshdeep:
"Arshdeep has been absolutely gun. In fact, even Rabada was not bowling as well as he did and that is absolutely incredible. In the death overs, he even used to tell Rabada how to bowl to Hardik, MS Dhoni or Andre Russell."
The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player highlighted some of the tricks Arshdeep Singh uses with the new ball. He explained:
"He has bowled less with the new ball, but when he did, he did well. His ball comes in in the air. The very good thing is that left-armers these days are actually angling the ball across. We saw that with Khaleel and we have seen that with Arshdeep as well."
Arshdeep was generally given just a solitary over in the powerplay and was held back for the death overs. The likes of Sandeep Sharma and Vaibhav Arora predominantly operated with the new ball along with Rabada.
"I don't think anyone has nailed the yorkers better than Arshdeep Singh this year" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra was particularly appreciative of Arshdeep for bowling the perfect yorkers at the death. He observed:
"Then over the stumps, round the stumps, his yorkers fall exactly at the right spot from both sides. I don't think anyone has nailed the yorkers better than Arshdeep Singh this year."
Arshdeep Singh Bowled joint most Yorkers in the IPL 2022. He is the future superstar. I can't wait to see him in the South Africa T20I series. https://t.co/p7oTvOOUiK
The renowned commentator concluded by stating that Arshdeep stood out despite not possessing the attributes of other star pacers. He elaborated:
"The kid was not scared of anyone and bowled the tough overs, at times he even bowled three-three overs at the death. He does not have the bounce or the pace and his ball does not swing that much as well but he uses the angles extremely well."
Arshdeep Singh is part of the 18-member Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. The 23-year-old will hope to get his maiden Team India cap in the series and showcase his prowess at the international level.