Batters don’t trust their defence much anymore: Arshdeep Singh

Pacer Arshdeep Singh of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) put up a fantastic display against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Tuesday, April 1 in Lucknow, taking three wickets. With two games played thus far in the IPL 2025 season, the left-arm fast has already claimed five wickets. He had an instant effect in this match, removing Mitchell Marsh, the opener for LSG, in his first over. The PBKS won by a comfortable eight wickets thanks to his breakthroughs.

According to the 26-year-old pacer, batters nowadays are more likely to attack the ball and depend less on defensive strategies. The aggressive approach helps him plot his bowling lines and set up the field appropriately, the left-arm bowler acknowledged.

As you know, batsmen don’t have much faith in their defence these days. The ball is all they want to pursue. Consequently, I had a deep cover and two slips. As a result, I have a fielder and am attacking with two slips in case the batter swings and the ball flies up in the air. In the end, the wicket improved, and I think you should stay till the very finish,” the left-arm pacer told IPLT20.

The Punjab fast bowler has taken a lot of wickets in the IPL in recent years. The bowler from Madhya Pradesh had a strong IPL 2021 season, taking 18 wickets. He then went on to take 17 wickets in 2023 and 19 wickets in 2024. In the 2024 T20 World Cup, the bowler took 17 wickets, which tied him for the most on the international scene.

Since there was more bounce available and the ball was halting in the LSG match, the Punjab Kings bowler believed he could have done better.

That’s mediocre, to be sure, on a pitch that was aiding seam bowlers. I believe I could have surrendered less runs and bowled more effectively. Therefore, there was extra bounce and the ball was stopping during the powerplay. Additionally, there was assistance.

Arshdeep Singh mentioned the red soil pitch, saying, “We could have hit the lengths for a bit more time and it would have been a different score.”

At a 26.08 average, the Indian bowler has claimed 81 wickets overall in the IPL. He holds the record for most wickets taken by India in T20Is, having taken 99.