Punjab Kings finally snapped their six-match losing streak in Lucknow on Saturday, yet the spotlight fell on a bowler who has usually delivered when it matters. Arshdeep Singh, India’s back-up pacer at the recent T20 World Cup, leaked 52 off three overs – an economy of 17.33 – while Lucknow Super Giants still finished on the wrong side of a 13-run result.
The contrast was stark. LSG scored at 9.80 overall; against Arshdeep they almost doubled that rate. Captain Sam Curran kept the left-armer back for a fourth over but never called on it, preferring the control of Harshal Patel and Rahul Chahar at the death.
Former India batter Ambati Rayudu, speaking on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut, felt the issue was almost entirely about length. “I just think his lengths [are the problem]. He’s not someone who should be bowling a lot of short deliveries,” Rayudu said. “Even in the death, he should be bowling yorkers… I don’t think his fuller balls went for so many runs as much as the short-of-length deliveries or the short ball.”
Rayudu noticed a second, more worrying sign. “He should be mindful of that because his short ball, he doesn’t have a great bouncer at the moment, maybe because of his body being tired or he doesn’t have the same juice as what he did a few months back.” The solution, in Rayudu’s eyes, is simple enough: pitch it up, even if it feels like over-compensation.
Mark Boucher, the Punjab head coach, offered a broader explanation. “I think it’s just being tired [after the T20 World Cup] and this month being the IPL, and he had to play in this. That’s the reason why he’s like that,” Boucher said. “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with his skill or his talent. At some stage, it [the fatigue] has to catch up with the players.”
Boucher added that the franchise’s composition means Arshdeep is almost undroppable. Overseas quicks can be rotated; the premier Indian seamer tends to play every game. “He knows that he’s going to be playing… He has to play. And I think that’s where maybe he needs to back his skill set as well. I think that he’s trying too hard with the new ball to take the ball both ways.”
The numbers back up both men’s assessments. At the World Cup in February–March, Arshdeep managed nine wickets in eight matches at 8.46 per over, supporting Jasprit Bumrah during India’s title run. In this IPL his figures read 14 wickets from 14 matches, economy 10.20, and he is one of only two bowlers to concede more than 500 runs. The other, Chennai’s Anshul Kamboj, at least has 21 scalps to soften the blow.
Punjab’s qualification hopes now rest on other results, but should another fixture arise, Arshdeep will play. Whether he finds the fuller length Rayudu demands, or the mental freshness Boucher hopes for, may decide how Punjab remember a season teetering between salvageable and forgettable.
Either way, the 25-year-old has earned enough goodwill to invite patience. The trick, as ever, is turning that goodwill back into wickets before the summer gets any longer.
