Arshdeep Singh, on his return to the Indian side, picked up 3/35 and has been awarded the Player Of The Match for the side in his third T20I at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Sunday. The left-arm seamer, despite being the highest wicket-taker for India in the format with 104 wickets, has been warming the bench too often. Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel said there are limited games going into the T20 World Cup, and it is important to see how the players react under pressure.
“It is not easy,” said Morkel on Arshdeep. “There will always be disappointment in terms of players and selection, but that is something at times that, as a player, is uncontrollable.”
“For us, from our side, we just keep on asking them to work hard and try hard and be ready for when they do get the opportunity. There are limited games now leading into the T20 World Cup, so it is essential for us to see how the players can react in certain situations under pressure; otherwise, it will be unknown to us. So it is a bit of playing those sorts of games and then still having the mindset to win the game of cricket,” said Morkel.
There have been several question marks also regarding the combinations the current Indian set-up has been picking. The batting order, too, has been juggled a few times in the ongoing T20I series against Australia. “You need to have options available. I think every team, if you look across the world, is playing around with options,” Morkel said.
“Yes, we will probably know one or two combinations that we set, but I think in this game you need to be adaptable. You need to know where certain players can give you options in different roles. And if you are not going to try those roles and see how they handle the pressure in those situations, you are never going to know,” he added.
“And I think with a World Cup around the corner, you do not want to leave any stones unturned. You do not want to sit two years down the line and say, if only we tried that, or give this combination a bit more time, it would have developed. So yes, I think it is about playing it smartly,” Morkel concluded on the matter.
