India had a shock exit from the 2022 T20 World Cup after losing to England in the semi-finals. Throughout the tournament, the Rohit Sharma-led side had a brilliant run, losing just one game in the Super 12 stage, against South Africa. Although Team India faced stiff fan backlash after being eliminated, they also had some positive factors such as star batsman Virat Kohli’s form and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering batting performance. Aside from all this, young pacer Arshdeep Singh was another thing that had a huge impact on the World Cup.
In his maiden T20 World Cup, the 23-year-old pacer scalped 10 wickets in six matches to become India’s highest wicket taker.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep came into his own and perfectly filled in the shoes of the senior pacer. Australian great Brett Lee was deeply impressed by Arshdeep’s performance at the prestigious ICC event, calling him his “new favorite left arm pacer from India”.
“We go back to just a few months ago when Jasprit Bumrah was banned from this T20 World Cup. Everyone thought he had huge shoes to fill, absolutely he is a superstar of the game with his world class yorkers. He is a three -format bowler he bowls well at his death But in cricket as we know the absence of one is another’s chance to shine And this young man Arshdeep is playing the first ever World Cup event, at the big stage, he showed what he’s made of. He’s my new favorite left arm pacer from India. I love what he’s done,” said Brett Lee on his YouTube channel.
“Very often teams don’t know what to do with these young and breakthrough stars. We’ve seen it before when young players get involved and get advice from players, TV, commentators, at the hotel. Every man means well, but very often . a lot of advice can be counterproductive. So I think Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma have a responsibility to protect Arshdeep Singh from this overdose of advice,” he added.
Arshdeep received a lot of flak on social media after he dropped a nanny from Pakistan’s Asif Ali in Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 clash. Brett Lee has now advised the Indian pacemaker to build a mental filter for comments on social media.
“As someone who has played a few matches I think I’m quite qualified to give him my thoughts. I have a few little things I think could help Arshdeep with his action and take more wicket. My first piece of advice to Arshdeep it might be people often say a fast bowler should go to the gym and bulk up we hear they want him to get bigger, be strong now strong can be strong in spirit I would say no working out too much. Lightweight, high reps, don’t worry about the beach muscles…if you want to, it won’t help you bowl fast,” said Brett Lee.
“Number 2 will be to build a mental filter for social media comments because we know the guys and girls who play are all on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you’re going to play a sport and have a social media presence , you need to understand that you need to turn off notifications. Don’t read what’s written. Have the brains and common sense to separate that. If you don’t like it, get away from social media and focus on your cricket ,” he added.
The former Australian also advised Arshdeep to focus on domestic cricket, to improve his cricketing skills.
“Keep working on your skills in domestic cricket because if there are no major World Cups and you don’t play Test cricket then there are no spectators. This is where you need to shine. So this is what I believe what was the bread and butter of my career. Go back to first-class cricket, enjoy the tranquility of the crowd and improve and build those skills. If you can get that done, the higher level will follow,” said Brett Lee.
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