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Although Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) couldn’t clinch their first Indian Premier League title in 2020, their second-half resurgence will be etched in the IPL annals forever. After losing six out of their first seven games - some defeats were nail-biting, others were outright demeaning - they rebounded with 5 wins on the trot. These included convincing victories against the top-3 sides and a couple of trouncing paybacks for the first half.
Synonymous with this resurgence was the much-romanticized comeback of the Universe Boss - Christopher Gayle. Gayle was the solution to one of the two problems in KXIP’s miserable first half as he slickly fitted into the number-3 position which had been donned by 5 different batsmen before him. The 41-year-old T20 legend’s indefatigable class and sagacity gave stability to that middle order and he helped his team turn the corner.
The Arshdeep Singh solution to Kings XI Punjab woes
What about the second issue? In their first three losing causes, KXIP leaked 64, 86, and 89 runs in the last 5 overs. In the fourth, the matter didn’t quite reach there as CSK’s Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson chased 179 with 14 balls to spare - a 10-wicket victory. The next game wasn’t looking any different.
This time SRH’s opening pair David Warner and Johnny Bairstow piled up 160 runs in just 15 overs. Even after Ravi Bishnoi broke the curse and took the first KXIP wicket after an aggregate of 36 overs and 400 runs, SRH were looking set for a humongous total.
Here’s where a young, turban-donning Arshdeep Singh was brought in. Playing his first match of the season, the left-arm pacer was deployed on the vanguard against the likes of Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson.
The first ball of the 16th over, Arshdeep skillfully banged it short on a sluggish wicket and gave Pandey no pace whatsoever. The latter couldn’t do much as he ballooned it back to the bowler for Arshdeep Singh’s first wicket of the tournament. In the next 5 deliveries, he kept bowling slow bumpers, and Williamson and Abdul Samad could only manage 4 runs.
He came in again in the 18th over, took out Priyam Garg with the first ball - a foxy slow yorker - and ended up as the best fast bowler for KXIP. Arshdeep Singh had made its mark.
He impressed again next time. This time against a mightier finisher, probably the mightiest in the world. Andre Russell was desperate for runs when he came up against Arshdeep Singh.
The plan was set as he yorked him wide-off the off-stump but Russell flailed hard and his muscle meant it went for four to the third man. Arshdeep was unruffled as he bowled a similar delivery once again to obtain a finer edge this time - a dolly to the wicket-keeper.
Arshdeep Singh's impactful performances
Slender and six feet, three inches tall Arshdeep Singh surely punches above his weight. He runs in hard and has a whistling action, a lot similar to Trent Boult’s. Arshdeep Singh has all the tricks in his repertoire, from the aforementioned slower deliveries to accurate bouncers and a super yorker. The most graceful, though, is his fast nip-backer which he has used innumerable times to send middle-stumps rolling.
Arshdeep Singh, now 21, was born in Madhya Pradesh but hails from Punjab. It was his performances in the domestic tournaments of Punjab that helped him get called up for the 2018 U-19 World Cup. In the two games that he played, his control and accuracy were for everyone to see as he bagged 3 wickets at a strike rate of 20.
A few months later, Arshdeep Singh was included in the Punjab U-23 team where again he made an instant impact against Rajasthan by taking 8 wickets, including a hat-trick in the CK Nayudu Trophy. He went on to take 15 more wickets in the next 5 games to help Punjab lift the trophy.
Arshdeep Singh caught the eye of then KXIP coach Mike Hesson in 2019 in a training camp and was roped in for his death bowling prowess. KXIP's campaign being rife with chopping and changing meant that Arshdeep Singh only played 3 games in 2019 before making a comeback this year.
KXIP reluctance in leaving out a sloppy Glenn Maxwell and their fear of thinning their bowling even further by dropping an overseas bowler wasn’t allowing them to include Gayle. Arshdeep’s emergence meant that he could be now trusted to take over the responsibilities of the West Indian Sheldon Cottrell both as an opening and death-overs bowler.
Thus, Arshdeep Singh assured two birds with one stone: he allowed the entry of the Universe Boss by replacing an overseas bowler and strengthened KXIP’s pell-mell death bowling. Behind the flare and glare that surrounds Gayle’s fortune-turning inclusion lies Arshdeep Singh - the right man at the right time.
In his little IPL career, Arshdeep Singh has accounted for the likes of Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane, in addition to Russell and Manish Pandey. While most of these might be because of his deft variations, Sharma's wicket came from a pacy 4th-stump delivery, bowled off the inside edge.
But his most important performance still came against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 43rd match of IPL 2020. This was another knock-out game for KXIP and was also the tournament’s first low-scoring thriller. While the Punjab side has made it their reputation to choke in the last few overs, SRH is famous for unbelievably defending low totals. In this match, the roles were reversed courtesy Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh.
Chasing a lowly 127, SRH were cantering at 100-3 in the 16th over with their last game’s heroes Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar still on the crease. But Jordan was at his level best in using his toe-crushers while our protagonist once again showed his dexterity in bowling slow, hard-length balls.
Arshdeep Singh first took out Shankar with a short delivery on the stumps as the batsman could only manage to guide it to the wicketkeeper. He then defended 14 runs in the last over - his first opportunity in the role - while also taking a couple more scalps.
Adjudged man of the match for his brilliant performance, Jordan was all praise for Arshdeep Singh in the post-match press conference:
"Arshdeep has been brilliant since he's come in, he's brought a free mind, free spirit. He's not that experienced and I think that's helped because he's just backed himself. In the crucial moments, I just try to keep him calm, and play a support role as much as possible."
Indian cricket has been on the lookout for its next genuine left-arm fast bowler after Zaheer Khan, someone to recreate what Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult do for their teams. But to no avail. Now young Arshdeep Singh has thrown his name into the hat. If he can keep steady and gain some more experience for his resume, his aggression and accuracy might just be the ticket.
It is India and the IPL we are talking about, though. Young players, especially fast bowlers, tend to lose steam in their second and third seasons. Sometimes batsmen just figure them out, other times auction price-tags start taking a toll on the fledgling player. Jaydev Unadkat and Khaleel Ahmed are cases in point. It needs to be seen then whether Arshdeep Singh is one of those who get crunched under the weight of big expectations or someone who will buoyantly rise as the next big thing.
Check the IPL 2020 purple cap list here.
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