Before Arshdeep Singh bowls India to victory over Australia, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi set up the game. A left-arm seamer defends 10 in the final over of the fifth one-day international as India wins the series 4-1.
Arshdeep Singh went from being the most expensive bowler of the evening to becoming the action hero of the final over, robbing his team of a memorable victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. With just 10 runs, a raging Matthew Wade on strike, and a careless seamer to stop him, India appeared destined for defeat until the left-arm seamer made an unexpected comeback, hitting the Australian captain with the third ball to all but end the match and give them a 6 run lead to end the series 4-1.
Earlier in the troubled series, Arshdeep had conceded 37 runs in his three previous overs, looking both out of rhythm and out of ideas. In as many games, he has taken just four wickets at a cost of 10.38 runs per over. However, the final over would likely offer a welcome boost of confidence to make a strong case for being included in the T20 World Cup roster.
The series served as a sort of casting call for the global event, which is just six months away. A few were making a comeback from injuries, while others were testing to see if they could contribute more than the first-choice players.
India’s selectors would be reasonably pleased with some of the young players and injury-returnees’ performances in this regard. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s value continued to soar. In their quest to win a T20 World Cup since the competition’s inception, India has lacked an attacking-oriented left-handed batsman at the top.
Both middle-order batsman Rinku Singh and his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad made compelling arguments with their lively fielding and carefree hitting. Ben McDermott’s catch, where he ran to his right and maintained composure close to the fence, was a prime example of his value on the pitch.
