ARSHDEEP LONE BRIGHT SPOT FOR KINGS

Left-arm seamer's four-fer in vain as Hyderabad beat Punjab by 2 runs to get ahead in the mid-table congestion

- GOMESH S

ARSHDEEP Singh was at the top of his mark, ready to run in with the new ball against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kagiso Rabada had already bowled the first over, and now it was Arshdeep's turn against the destructive opening duo of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.

Up until that point, the Punjab Kings pacer's figures in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League read 2/28, 0/40, 2/30 and 0/33. Four wickets in as many games for 131 runs might not sound as bad for many, but for Arshdeep, it did. He is an international pacer and has been a regular for them in the shortest format, especially death overs. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, it was the Punjab pacer the team had turned to.

However, there were concerns. He had been inconsistent.

Then there is the belief that the other pacers seem to be upskilling while Arshdeep has stagnated a bit. His economy lingering a little over nine runs per over surely did not help the cause either. The left-arm seamer had a point to prove; show everyone why he is as highly-rated by the franchise as well as the national team.