Following India’s defeat to Pakistan in the Super 4 stage of the ongoing 2022 Asia Cup on Sunday (September 5) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, pacer Arshdeep Singh has found himself in the line of fire. The youngster dropped a catch of hard-hitting Pakistan batter Asif Ali in the 18th over of the innings when he was batting on 0* from Ravi Bishnoi’s bowling.
The missed opportunity proved fatal for India as Ali smacked a quick-fire cameo of 16 in just 8 balls to take the Men in Green over the line after smashing 19 runs of senior pacer Bhunveshwar Kumar’s 19th over. Arshdeep ended up dismissing Ali in the 20th over and did a remarkable job to take the game to the penultimate delivery, it was a case of too little too late.
After the game ended, Arshdeep has been subject to vicious trolling on social media and has received a lot of blame for India’s inability to win the game. On seeing the abuse faced by the Indian bowler, ex-opener Aakash Chopra came out in strong support of him and showed solidarity by changing his profile picture on Twitter to one of Arshdeep.
Various ex-Indian cricketers including Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh have come out and publicly backed Arshdeep in the aftermath of the game. Even senior Indian batter and former skipper Virat Kohli offered his support to Arshdeep in the post-match press conference while recalling how terrified he felt after playing a poor shot in the 2009 Champions Trophy against Pakistan.
Despite the dropped catch, Arshdeep was one of the biggest positives for Team India. While senior bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal had an off day, he conceded only 27 runs in 3.5 overs while taking one wicket. Arshdeep has rapidly grown in prominence for the national team having made his debut against England in July.
