The last couple of days has been quite hectic for young fast bowler Arshdeep Singh. The catch he dropped on Sunday night sparked an uproar on social media and trolls started to take shots at him. Some of them turned abusive as India lost the game to arch-rivals Pakistan and the 23-year-old was portrayed as the villain.
Two sleeps later, Arshdeep was back in action against Sri Lanka. India was looking for their first Super 4 win, but the island nation came prepared to challenge the defending champions. Just like the previous game, the left-arm quick was given the responsibility to bowl the final over and to everyone’s surprise, it was almost a déjà vu for him.
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Bhuvneshwar leaked 14 runs in the penultimate over, bringing down the equation to 7 needed off the last 6 balls. Arshdeep, as usual, held his nerves and conceded 5 runs in 5 deliveries. However, missed run-out chances from Rishabh Pant and the bowler himself let the opponents cross the finish line. Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa took 2 bye runs and guided the team to a 6-wicket win.
Besides India’s hard luck, another thing that caught viewers’ attention was the reaction of Rohit Sharma to Arshdeep. The Indian captain was seen turning his back on the fast bowler when the latter looked like suggesting something. The video of the incident went viral on social media. The netizens began targeting Rohit for his behaviour, assuming that the skipper wasn’t in a mood to pay heed to the youngster.
Checkout the video:
So Rude by Rohit Sharma.
This attitude of Captain over team players won’t do any good for Team India.
Feeling sad for Arshdeep. His last over was superb! #INDvSL #AsiaCup2022 pic.twitter.com/F6w4V22oKY— Suersh Kumar (@imskj_0p) September 6, 2022
Arrogant man is the only word to call Rohit Sharma. Bad captainsy by Rohit Sharma and bad attitude. Well done arshadeep for your last over in last two matches.
— Padmakumar (@padmakumartsy) September 7, 2022
Arshdeep can not correct follies of others. Rohit is not behaving like a captain.must learn from Virat and Dhoni
— scp-049 (@SCP049site15A) September 7, 2022
Arshdeep can not correct follies of others. Rohit is not behaving like a captain.must learn from Virat and Dhoni
— scp-049 (@SCP049site15A) September 7, 2022
Rohit jaani sunn tou lo woh kya keh raha hai. pic.twitter.com/HoVsaS7Qw1
— (@TahaJawaid) September 6, 2022
But once the game was over, Rohit was questioned about the backlash faced by Arshdeep following the Pakistan debacle. The Indian skipper backed the pacer and heaped praise for his brave efforts.
“Honestly, the guys do not look at social media that much. Too much crap is happening there when we lose games here and there, a drop here and there,” Rohit said in the post-match presser.
“Yes, he [Arshdeep] himself was disappointed, but then again if you saw his confidence in 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,” he added.
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