New Delhi: Arshdeep Singh picked three wickets, along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya, to help India restrict Pakistan to 159/8 in their Super 12 clash at the 2022 T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
After Bhuvneshwar Kumar conceded just a wide in his opening over and found some swing, Arshdeep bowled a perfect first delivery in his T20 World Cup debut by trapping Babar Azam lbw for a golden duck with a full, straight delivery coming in from over the wicket.
In his next over, Arshdeep had another wicket when his short and angling away ball caught Mohammad Rizwan. The right-hander attempted to hook it but was hurried by the pace and extra bounce as the top edge was snapped easily at fine leg. It left Pakistan in trouble at 15-2 off the first four overs.
With Pakistan countering the Indian bowlers’ opening spells, Arshdeep struck on the fourth ball of his second spell, bouncing out Asif Ali and giving the keeper a simple catch off the glove edge.
At the mid-innings break when Arshdeep Singh was asked about his World Cup debut and what he was feeling, he said, “I just wanted to enjoy the moment. I guess it’ll never come again, so I just wanted to enjoy myself and have fun. We wanted to make use of the long square boundaries, so the plan was to hit the wickets and the pads. I guess we’ll do our best and chase this down.”
