I love it - Arshdeep Singh on welcoming challenges head-on

Arshdeep Singh turned out to be one of India’s crucial performers in their third T20I against West Indies. First with the bat, he contributed 11 runs, including a gigantic maximum. Then with the ball, he registered figures of 3/44.

With the ball, he snuffed out the crucial scalp of Shai Hope in the first over itself, a blow that left West Indies sans their best batter throughout the chase.

Singh also bagged the wickets of Keemo Paul and a dangerous Sherfane Rutherford, pushing the visitors to the edge and earning him the Player of the Match award.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Arshdeep opened up on the conditions while revealing how the entire team supports anyone and everyone, irrespective of whether they are having a good day or a bad one.

Explaining the conditions, Arshdeep said, “It's pretty nice. The ball was reversing a bit, and it's always good fun to bowl at death with the ball reversing a little, and it's always nice (to bowl with) the dew as well. But couldn't do well in the last game, so wanted to do good for the team this time and got the right result.”

Reflecting on how he manages being the leader of the bowling attack, Arshdeep added, “I mean, there’s no such thing as the leader or the senior in the team. The environment is very chilled right now and we’re just enjoying each other’s success, and whenever someone’s having a bad day, we always make sure that we put our shoulders around them and tell them that they are an integral part of the team. And as an international cricketer, you are bound to have good days and bad days. As long as you’re level-headed, you’ll always come back and do well.”

Highlighting how he maintains his composure, Arshdeep stated, “I genuinely love it. I personally love it whenever the batsmen go harder to in the starting and in the death over as well. It’s a good challenge, it’s good fun, and that’s when you get to test yourself, test your skills and test your mental strength as well in that phase of the game. So it’s good fun.”

He concluded by talking about his adaptability to the conditions, saying, “The main focus is to just come early, bowl a bit with the new ball, with the old ball, and just sharpen your skills as much as you can. And then, as you said, the schedule is always tight. You just have to adapt quickly. The team which adapts quickly is mostly the team that gets on the right side of the result. So as a team we just try to adapt and play according to the conditions.”