Punjab registered a 12 run win over Mumbai in the 23rd match of the Indian T20 League at the MCA Stadium in Pune. Odean Smith picked three wickets in the final over to guide his team through. However, Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Sing were the more crucial bowlers for Punjab in the match.
Notably, Arshdeep Singh bowled the 18th over of the match and conceded just five runs with the set batter Suryakumar Yadav still at the crease. Kagiso Rabada bowled the 19th over of the match and picked up the very important wicket of Yadav. He conceded just six runs in the over. This left Smith to bowl to the tailenders in the final over, with Mumbai needing 23 runs to win.
Manjrekar was high in praise for Arshdeep Singh and credit him for Punjab’s win. “Nobody is going to talk about Arshdeep Singh. Everyone’s talking about Odean Smith’s four wickets. But the guys who really made the difference were Rabada picked up two huge wickets (Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav) and Arshdeep Singh. The first over went for 12, the second at the start went for nine by Rabada. Arshdeep gets the ball and concedes four and the 18th over just conceded five runs. So this is a guy who has been doing this for years now and those are the contribution when the match is slipping away, a five-run over with a set batter around him. Surya during that overtook a single because he couldn’t get him away. That’s the ultimate hats off to the bowler,” Manjrekar said while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.
The former cricketer turned commentator also said that Arshdeep is a better choice in T20 cricket for India than Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He pointed out that India has turned to Kumar time and again but that has not worked for them. Manjrekar also mentioned that Arshdeep is among the top five Indian bowlers of the current generation.Â
“India keeps going back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has been a wonderful bowler. He has been. But today, if you compare, Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep, he is a much better bowler to have in the T20 side. He is certainly in the top five (among Indian bowlers). He must be wondering what more I have to do (to get into the Indian side). Because today was another night where you’re looking at guys like Suryakumar Yadav saying I can’t hit this guy, might as well take a single. That’s what you do against the Bumrah, and the Lasith Malinga,” he said.
