Rohit Sharma was in no mood to be diplomatic as he launched a staunch defense of his India teammate Arshdeep Singh during a media interaction on Tuesday following his team’s six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022.
Arshdeep was heavily trolled on social media platforms for dropping the catch of Asif Ali on 0 who then went on to score crucial runs that decisively swung the match in Pakistan’s favour. Even his Wikipedia page was vandalised resulting in the Indian government reportedly sending a notice to the website for publishing false information.
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“Honestly, the guys do not look at social media that much,” Rohit said on Tuesday. “Too much crap is happening there when we lose games here and there, a drop here and there.”
Rohit pointed out how Arshdeep quickly regained his confidence after dropping the catch as he bowled a decent final over pushing the contest to the penultimate delivery even though he had just seven runs to defend.
“Yes, he [Arshdeep] himself was disappointed, but then again if you saw his confidence in the the final over [in the Pakistan game], he nailed the yorker well and he got Ali [Asif] out [eventually]. If he was not mentally there, the execution would not have happened, but in his case he ran to his place and took the ball. Today also I thought he bowled pretty well in the last two overs,” Rohit said.
“He is a very confident lad, and that is why he is here, ahead of lot of players who are sitting at their homes. He is a very confident lad and I have not seen many like him early in his career. As a captain and a coach we are very happy with how he takes his game and goes about his business with the ball,” he added.
The 23-year-old Arshdeep didn’t take seriously to the abuse coming his away either. “His exact words were, ‘I am laughing at all these tweets and messages. I am only going to take positives from it. This incident has only given me more confidence’,” Arshdeep’s father told The Indian Express.
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