'Arshdeep's Bowling In The World Cup Final Was Extraordinary'

'I was not able to watch that 19th over bowled by Arshdeep.'
'My son and daughter were watching the match and my eyes were closed.'
'When they used to shout 'Dot ball', I used to open my eyes, that is how I saw that Arshdeep over.'

Arshdeep Singh's coach Jaswant Rai can't stop smiling as he reflects on his ward's superb showing with the ball in the T20 World Cup.

Left-arm pacer Arshdeep was the joint highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets to play a vital role in India's T20 World Cup triumph. The young fast bowler, who took 2/20 in the final, bowled a decisive over -- the 19th of the innings -- conceding just four runs which all but sealed the deal in India's favour.

Rai, who has been coaching Arshdeep for about a dozen years now, is happy with his rapid improvement in the last couple of years.

He was especially happy after how Arshdeep bounced back after an expensive spell in the opening game against Ireland, after he had sent the youngster a 'Khatta-Meetha' message after an indifferent two-over spell at the end.

Chandigarh-based Rai reveals how Arshdeep is mentally tough and the abuse he received for dropping a catch in the game against Pakistan two years ago didn't impact him.

"Arshdeep is mentally strong and these things on the outside don't affect him," Rai tells Rediff.com's Harish Kotian.

How impressed are you with Arshdeep Singh's performance in the T20 World Cup? He finished as the joint highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets at just seven per over, did well with both the new ball and in the death overs.

I am very happy. He bowled that crucial over in the final against South Africa. That was an important over as far as the result of the match is concerned.

You know at the start of the World Cup, in the first match against Ireland, in the first two overs he had given away only six runs but in his last two overs bowled at the end he conceded 29 runs. I remember that match when Ireland were bowled out for 96 and Arshdeep taken 2/35 in four overs.

After the match I sent him a long message, I would say a 'Khatta-Meetha' message. I told him clearly that the World Cup is a long tournament, this won't work that in the first two overs you give six runs and then in the last two overs you give 29 runs, it is too much and that too against a team like Ireland.

I made him understand that he is yet to establish himself in the team. He has to bowl according to the role he has been given, which is to bowl economically while also taking wickets.

You should aim to take as many wickets as the great bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada or Shaheen Shah Afridi, then people will know your name and remember how you bowled in the World Cup.

After winning the World Cup, I sent him the same message, I had told him after the Ireland match that 'You can do it' and after the final match I told him 'You have done it!' I once again sent the full message which I had sent him after the Ireland message and told him 'See you have done what we had discussed, so very well done'.

He was not as economical as we would have liked, if you see Bumrah's figures but Arshdeep finished as the highest wicket-taker. I remember he replied to my message after the Ireland game, he just said, 'okay boss, I will do it.'

Do you message him after every match, whether he bowls well or not?

I mostly message to motivate him, I don't say much about his bowling. He is part of the Indian team, they have their own coaching staff, who plan his bowling according to the conditions, the pitches, the opposition and the size of the ground and all that.

I always tell him that whatever the team management has told him to do, he should execute those plans and give your 100 percent on the field.

Sometimes, like in that Ireland match when he conceded runs in the final two overs, since it was the first match and he could have been dropped for the next game, so in such a scenario, you have to give him some counselling and tell him what to do and what not to do.

After the Ireland match, he improved a lot and was quite consistent with his bowling.
The most impressive part about Arshdeep's bowling was how he adapted to the conditions and pitches. In the group games in the USA, he focussed on getting the new ball to swing and got early wickets, while in the West Indies he was very clever with the change of pace even with the new ball.
He has matured so quickly in the last couple of years since coming into the Indian team.

Arshdeep's biggest quality is that he is a quick learner. He was 13 years old when he came to me and in two years he played Under-16 for Punjab. But after that he had a gap of two years, he was doing well in district cricket but he was not getting picked for the state team.

Then within one year, he made it to the India Under-19 team and was also picked for the IPL, and after two seasons of IPL, he played for India.

This is Arshdeep's big strength. He is a quick learner, he picks up things very fast.

How important has it been for Arshdeep to partner someone like Jasprit Bumrah. He seems to be learning a lot from him.

Yes, he is learning a lot from Bumrah, who is such a great bowler.

Arshdeep shares the new ball with Bumrah and I can see that already he has learnt a lot from him. He has got a lot of help from him, he learnt things like how to vary his pace in the death overs or try other variations.

He said that Bumrah helped him a lot during the World Cup.

He picked up 19 wickets in the IPL but his economy rate was high. He bounced back quite well in the World Cup as he bowled with a lot of control and didn't give too many runs.

If you see in the IPL, he was not bowling too many yorkers. He lost of a bit of confidence in the yorkers, he was not able to execute it properly and was bowling lot of full tosses.

I told him that if he was not able to get his yorker right, he should keep trying, he should not be scared of trying the yorker ball.

I would say it also depends against whom you are bowling and who is your partner. With Bumrah at the other end, the pressure was always there because he bowls so tight, that made life easy for Arshdeep.

Bumrah bowled tight at the start, giving away 3-4 runs in the Powerplay which helped Arshdeep. If there was any other bowler, who might have conceded 10-12 runs then Arshdeep might have not felt so confident.

The pressure that Bumrah built from his end helped Arshdeep a lot and he did well to capitalise.

Everyone talks about the 19th over which Arshdeep bowled in the final as a crucial over, but the 13th over which he bowled was also vital because he ended up taking the big wicket of the well-set Quinton de Kock, who fell in the leg side trap.

That was a perfect trap. When he bowled the slower bouncer, de Kock hit him over short fine leg for a four but the next ball he bowled a big quicker on the same length and the fielder was pushed back too and he took the catch after the same shot was attempted.

So that shows how quick a learner Arshdeep is. If you see he learnt to adapt to the conditions, he know what stage to bowl the slower ball and against which batter.

Sometime you bowled a good length but the line is wrong and the batter hits you for runs, so you don't have to overthink. Just bowl the same length next ball and try to get the line right so the batsman can't do anything, if he still goes for that shot he might get out, that is how we should keep it simple.

His bowling in the World Cup final was extraordinary.

Arshdeep showed so much composure in the crucial 19th over to seal the match giving away just four runs which made it easier for Hardik Pandya in the final over. If he had gone for runs then the result could have been different. He showed remarkable control with the yorkers.

You are right. He gave away just four runs due to which 16 were needed in the final over. If he had given away 10 or 12 runs then you would have around 8 to 10 runs to defend which would have been achievable, so that over bowled by Arshdeep proved to be crucial.

He likes to bowl his variations. You know something if you don't give too much advice to Arshdeep he might end up bowling six different deliveries in one over. But that is risky as if you try too many things you might end up going for runs sometimes. So I keep telling him that only try variations when needed and not always.

You must have been very tense while watching the 19th over.

I was very tense because World Cup is ultimate, be it any team sport like football or hockey. And we were playing the World Cup final, it was not long ago when we had lost the ODI World Cup final in November.

I was just thinking and praying to God that 'Let Arshdeep take a hat-trick or bowl such an over that the result of the match is settled.'

I was just hoping that Arshdeep doesn't give away 10-12 runs so I was very tense every ball.

I was not able to watch that over bowled by Arshdeep. My son and daughter were watching the match and my eyes were closed during the 19th over. When they used to shout 'Dot ball', I used to open my eyes. When they shouted 'Two runs' then I opened my eyes and so on. That is how I saw that Arshdeep over.

So what message did you send to Arshdeep after that match? Khatta or Meetha?

I always motivate him with my messages. That Ireland match was the first game of the World Cup so little bit of Khatta Meetha was needed but otherwise I always motivate him.

As I said earlier, I had sent him the message 'You have done it!' after the final copy pasting the earlier message after the Ireland game, 'You can do it'.

Arshdeep is very calm, even when he picks up a wicket he doesn't celebrate too much and looks very relaxed on the field.

That is how he has always been from the start. He is disciplined, he stays calm and relaxed when playing. I always keep messaging to keep his cool when playing.

I remember telling him during T20 games that focus on the 24 balls, don't think of it as four overs. Just focus on the next delivery when you are bowling because every ball is important in T20 cricket.

Two years ago Arshdeep was trolled for the dropped catch in the match against Pakistan. How tough was it for him to deal with the abuse because he was very young and then?

I will tell you about the incident when I spoke to him after that game when he was trolled a lot. I called him in the morning after I saw the news. I asked him what he was doing and Arshdeep told me that he was inside his hotel room.

So I told not to open any social media like Facebook or Twitter or Instagram, just relax yourself or read some magazines. So he asked me why I was saying that.

I told him that 'There is some trolling happening in your name on social media', but his reply surprised me. 'He said, "Sir since morning I have been checking Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and I am enjoying myself. Let the trolls say what they want, it doesn't affect me I am just focused on giving my best in the next game. I am having a good laugh myself".'

I said 'Hope you are okay but you don't sound that upbeat.' Arshdeep said 'It is not due to the trolls but because I was hit for a boundary in the last over. I was thinking that if I had got the yorker right and if the batter was unable to hit a boundary maybe we would have won.'

That shows that he is mentally strong and these things on the outside don't affect him.

Arshdeep was very consistent with the yorkers and the slower balls during the World Cup, those two deliveries are very hard to master. How did Arshdeep get some control on the yorker and slower balls?

When he was growing up Arshdeep played a lot of tennis ball cricket, he bowled a lot of yorkers that time too. So from a very young age, he has been into bowling yorkers. Then also we did a lot of practice drills with Arshdeep to get the yorkers right by asking him to bowl at the shoes or cones kept at the full length spot.

If you see in the IPL this year, things didn't go that well because the ball was not moving. His main weapon is the incoming delivery to the right-handers. If you see he took a few wickets against the USA and Ireland with the inswinging deliveries.

It helped him that the whole team performed as an unit whether it was the bowlers or the batters, it was a combined effort which won India the World Cup.

Do you also see him as someone who could also play a role in Test cricket for India in the future?

In future, we are looking to get him in the Indian ODI team and then the Test team too. It is our dream to see him play all formats.

He is just 25 years old, he has lot of time in hand to improve and become a better bowler, who can do well in all three formats.

I read somewhere that the great Sunil Gavaskar has said that we must also look at Arshdeep for Test matches in the future, so definitely it is in our mind also.