Harbhajan Singh: No one drops catches purposely and the young seamer should not be criticized

In the 18th over of the innings as a young seamer, Arshdeep Singh dropped a relatively easy chance off the bowling of Ravi Bishnoi at the crucial moment of the game while Former India spinner has come to the rescue of Arshdeep, saying no one drops catches purposely and the young seamer should not be criticized.

The high-octane clash between Pakistan and India was played on Sunday while the side that figures out how to hold their nerves dominate the competition. 

In the Asia Cup Super 4 clash, Babar Azam-drove side came out on top against India as they registered a five-wicket victory after chasing down a total of 182. Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Nawaz were the game changers who helped their side to win this game. 

However, the biggest talking point of the game came in the 18th over of the innings as young seamer Arshdeep Singh dropped a relatively easy chance off the bowling of Ravi Bishnoi at the crucial moment of the game, and as a result, Asif Ali got a life.

Former India spinner has come to the rescue of Arshdeep, saying no one drops catches purposely and the young seamer should not be criticized.

“Stop criticizing young @arshdeepsinghh. No one drop the catch purposely..we are proud of our 🇮🇳 boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout arsh and team.. Arsh is GOLD,”

Harbhajan tweeted.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, India batter Virat Kohli also showed his support for Arshdeep, saying:

“Anyone can commit the mistake, the situation was tight. It was a high-pressure game and mistakes can happen. I still remember I was playing my first Champions Trophy and the match was against Pakistan, I had played a very bad shot against Shahid Afridi. I was watching the ceiling till 5 am, I was not able to sleep and I thought my career is over but these things are natural. Seniors players get around you, there is a good team environment right now, I give the credit to the captain and coach. The players learn from their mistakes. So one must accept his mistake, address it and look forward to being in that pressure situation once again.”

In the last two overs, Pakistan needed 25 runs. Arshdeep came to deliver the final over. He took the wicket of Asif Ali to keep Team India’s hopes alive, with two runs needed in two deliveries. Ali was out for 16 off seven balls. 

Iftikhar Ahmed was the next batter. In the end, Pakistan won the match with one ball to go by five wickets.

For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Arshdeep Singh took one wicket each.