Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who is very vocal about his views and opinions, has said that uncapped Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh is a better T20 bowler than a veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar after his tidy 18th over against Mumbai Indians. Arshdeep gave away just five runs from that over and didn’t allow Suryakumar Yadav to free his arms. The seamer has performed consistently well for Punjab since last season as a result he was retained by the franchise ahead of some senior players.
Punjab Kings managed to beat five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians by 12 runs at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune, as Odean Smith successfully defended 22 runs in the final over. However, Manjrekar believes that Arshdeep and Kagiso Rabada were the two bowlers who made the real difference in the match. Arshdeep bowled a tight over while Rabada picked two crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.
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“Nobody is going to talk about Arshdeep Singh. Everyone’s talking about Odean Smith’s four wickets. But the guys who really made the difference were Rabada, picked up two huge wickets (Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav) and Arshdeep Singh. The first over went for 12, the second at the start went for nine by Rabada. Arshdeep gets the ball and concedes four and the 18th over just conceded five runs. So this is a guy who has been doing this for years now and those are the contribution when the match is slipping away, a five-run over with a set batter around him. Surya during that over took a single because he couldn’t get him away. That’s the ultimate hats off to the bowler,” said Manjrekar during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo.
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Manjrekar went on to compare Arshdeep with Bhuvneshwar and said that he deserved a spot in India’s T20 side as according to him he is amongst the top 5 Indian bowlers at present.
“India keeps going back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He has been a wonderful bowler. He has been. But today, if you compare, Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep, he is a much better bowler to have in the T20 side. He is certainly in the top 5 (among Indian bowlers). He must be wondering what more do I have to do (to get into the Indian side). Because today was another night where you’re looking at guys like Suryakumar Yadav saying I can’t hit this guy, might as well take a single. That’s what you do against the Bumrah, and the Lasith Malinga,” he added.
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