Punjab Kings’ star pacer Arshdeep Singh stole the limelight with his impressive performances in India’s road to the semi-finals at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
The 23-year-old left-arm fast bowler finished as India’s leading wicket-taker in the high-profile tournament, picking up 10 wickets in six matches at an average of 15.60 and an economy of 7.80.
Earlier, Arshdeep started the T20 World Cup campaign in an emphatic fashion as he bagged three wickets for just 32 runs in his quota of four overs against arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening clash of the Super 12 stage.
The Madhya Pradesh-born cricketer dismissed Pakistan captain Babar Azam in his very first over and later removed star wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan in his second over to provide the Indian team a brilliant start.
Arshdeep continued his magnificent spell as he bagged the wicket of Pakistan’s flamboyant batter Asif Ali in the 17th over to finish with figures of 4-0-32-3.
He was once again one of the wreckers-in-chief in the bowling department during India’s second Super 12 encounter against the Netherlands. The left-arm pacer scalped two wickets for 37 runs in his four overs.
The former U-19 World Cup star continued his rich vein of form as he troubled the famed South African batting line-up while defending a low total during the Men in Blue’s third match of the tournament.
Arshdeep picked the massive wicket of Proteas wicket-keeper batter Quinton de Kock and followed it up by dismissing in-form batter Rilee Rossouw in his first over against South Africa to bring India back into the game. While India suffered a five-wicket loss, Arshdeep finished the match with figures of 4-0-25-2.
The talented fast bowler later bagged two wickets against Bangladesh and added one more to his tally against Zimbabwe to emerge as India’s lethal weapon during both the powerplay and death overs.
In the highly anticipated semi-final against England, Arshdeep bowled just two overs, conceding 15 runs as India lost by 10 wickets to get knocked out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Arshdeep’s stunning form was one of the big positives for the Indian cricket team during their T20 World Cup campaign Down Under.
In his short T20I career, Arshdeep has already proved to be a great inclusion to India’s white-ball set-up, having claimed 29 wickets in 19 matches at an average of 18.34 and an economy of 8.04.
The Punjab Kings pacer will look to continue his scintillating form in their upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on Friday, November 18.
