India had a shocking exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup after they lost to England in the semi-final. In the entire tournament, the Rohit Sharma-led side had a brilliant run and lost only one match in the Super 12 stage, against South Africa. Even though Team India faced severe backlash from the fans after getting eliminated, they also had some positive factors like star batter Virat Kohli’s form and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering batting performance. Apart from all this, another thing which left a massive impact in the World Cup was young pacer Arshdeep Singh.
Playing his maiden T20 World Cup, the 23-year old pacer scalped 10 wickets in six matches and was India’s highest wicket-taker.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep completely justified his role and perfectly filled-in the shoes of the senior pacer. Australia great Brett Lee was left utterly impressed by Arshdeep’s performance in the prestigious ICC event and called him his “new favourite left-arm pacer from India.”
“We go back to only a few months ago when Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of this T20 World Cup. Everyone thought huge shoes to fill, definitely true, he is a superstar of the game with his world-class yorkers. He is a three-format bowler, he bowls well at the death. But in cricket, as we know, one man’s absence is another man’s opportunity to shine. And this young man Arshdeep, he is playing first-ever World Cup event, on the big stage, he showed what he is made of. He is my new favourite left-arm pacer from India. I like what he has done,” said Brett Lee on his YouTube channel.
“Very often teams don’t know what to do with these young and breakout stars. We have seen it before when young players get involved and advices from players, TV, commentators, at the hotel. Every man means well but very often, too much advice can be counter-productive. So, I think Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma have the responsibility to shield Arshdeep Singh from this overdose of advice,” he added.
Arshdeep faced a lot of flak on social media after he dropped a sitter of Pakistan’s Asif Ali, in the Super 4 clash of Asia Cup 2022. Brett Lee has now adviced the Indian pacer to build a mental filter to social media comments.
“As someone who has played a few matches, I believe I am pretty qualified to pass him my thoughts. I have got a couple of little things that I believe can help Arshdeep with his action and take more wicket. My first advice to Arshdeep would be that people often say that a fast bowler should get to the gym, and bulk. We hear they want him to bulk up, be strong. Now strong can be strong in the mind. I would say do not over-gym. Lightweight, high repetitions, don’t worry about the beach muscles… if you want to do that, it won’t help you bowl fast,” said Brett Lee.
“Number 2 will be to build a mental filter to social media comments because we know that the guys and girls playing are all on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you’re going to play a sport and have a social media presence, you have to understand that you should turn off notifications. Don’t read what’s written. Have the brains and commonsense to separate that. If you don’t like it, get off social media and focus on your cricket,” he added.
The former Australian also advised Arshdeep to focus on domestic cricket, in order to improve his cricketing skills.
“Keep working on your skills in domestic cricket, because when there is no big World Cups, and you’re not playing Test cricket, there aren’t any spectators. This is where you have to shine. So this is what I believe what was the bread and butter of my career. Going back to First-Class cricket, enjoy the quietness of the crowd and hone and build those skills. If you can look after that, the high-level will follow,” said Brett Lee.
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