Arshdeep Singh Is Bowling The Tough Overs With Ease

Arshdeep Singh has the best economy rate in the slog overs (17-20) in IPL 2022 - 5.66.

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T20 format is the most challenging format for the bowlers since they are always on the defense while finishing up their overs. The fact that even a dot ball or a single is a win for the bowler says a lot about how much batters are dominating in this format. 

However, even in the 20 overs, it's not like batters try to hit the first ball to four. They gradually up the scoring rate. The 20 overs can be divided into four phases - 1-6, 7-11, 12-16, and 17-20. 

1-6 overs are in the powerplay phase when the fielding restrictions are on. But the first three overs are the ones in which batters don't try to go hard due to the new ball movement and to set their eye in. 

The 4-6 overs are when batters up the scoring rate and make use of the restrictions. The run rate is more than eight in these overs since the batters are more attacking, making these tough overs for the bowlers to contain batters. 

7-11 is a phase when the run-scoring once again goes a bit down. The batters only take risks when a favorable matchup comes in. The risk factor is low for the bowlers to get hit. However, the 12-16 overs is a phase when the batters once again up the attacking rate. These are again the overs where bowlers find it hard to contain the batters. 

17-20 - the slog overs are well, the slog overs. The attacking intent is very high in this phase and the run rate goes more than 10 an over. 

Now, every team picks bowlers according to their strengths and plans them according to the matchups. Some bowlers are powerplay specialists, some bowl well in the middle overs while some are there for the death overs. 

Containing batters is a very hard job and it needs high skills, control, and a calm mind. It requires a lot of experience to bowl in these tough overs. However, there is one bowler who has been consistently bowling these overs against high-quality batters in the IPL. 

Arshdeep was retained by Punjab Kings(PBKS) for INR 4 crores in the IPL 2022; he was the only other player to get retained by the franchise after Mayank Agarwal. Clearly, PBKS had a plan for Arshdeep, seeing him bowl in the previous two seasons and watching him improve. 

In eight games, Arshdeep has bowled a total of 11 overs in the powerplay but bisecting them we see him bowling five overs in the 1-3 phase and the other six in the 4-6 overs. So PBKS wanted Arshdeep to exploit swing on offer in the first three overs but his lack of control with the new ball didn't reap much reward for them as he conceded 28 runs in the three overs he bowled in 1st and 2nd overs of the game. 

Once the swing decreased, his control rate went up so his two overs in the 3rd over of the game only cost 14 runs - an eco of 7 (below the season average eco of 8). In the 5th over of the inning, the LAP has bowled two overs that have cost PBKS 23 runs. In the sixth over of the inning, which has an eco of 8.11 in IPL 2022, Arshdeep has only conceded runs at an eco of 6.75 in four overs. 

Now, Arshdeep isn't bowled in the 7-11 phase, meaning the management has trust in him to contain the batters in the tough overs. He comes back in the 12th over which has conceded 8.2 rpo in this season; Arshdeep has just given 6.25 runs in four overs. 

Arshdeep has bowled three 16th overs, four 18th overs - another two tough overs to contain. In 16th over - Arshdeep's eco is 10.67 while 18th over is just 5.25. To give this a context - rpo in 16th over is 8.89 and 18th over is 11.12. 

Overall, Arshdeep Singh has an economy of 5.66 in the slog overs - the next best is 8.16 by Jasprit Bumrah, 9.11 in the middle, and 8.36 in the powerplay.

Arshdeep's plain numbers are very dry - three wickets in 26 overs at an economy of 8, but when taking a deeper look at his role, the picture becomes completely different and to think that a 23-year-old pacer, who hasn't even made his international debut, is playing this role is incredible skills and quality.