Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin opined that the fast-paced T20 franchise league, IPL, will move towards a point where defensive bowling will be the order of the day.
Ashwin pointed out Punjab Kings’ bowling performance in their only defeat of the season, to Rajasthan Royals, as fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Donovan Ferreira took RR past the 223 run target with 4 balls to spare.
Arshdeep Singh was taken for an astonishing 68 runs in the game by RR batters, and Ashwin called on the pacer to stick to defensive deliveries instead of hunting down for wickets.
“The time will come when defensive bowling will become an art,” the former off-spinner said.
“SRH are demonstrating that. PBKS in contrast, have displayed chinks in their bowling
armour in recent games.”
“And one of the main reasons for this has been Arshdeep Singh. The very same Arshdeep who registered 3/22 at the Wankhede was taken for runs at Mullanpur. He was in search of the wickets are looked to deliver wicket-taking deliveries instead of sticking to defensive bowling,” he added.
“He understands defensive bowling is the only way to go at Wankhede, but experiments with variations at other venues,” Ashwin explained.
“For Arshdeep Singh’s calibre, he shouldn’t be leaking as many runs, that’s what Ricky Ponting would be telling him too.”
“Why risk bowling high-risk wicket-taking balls when your job is to defend?”
Ashwin also suggested that PBKS should find ways to include Vyshak Vijaykumar, who has done incredbily well with his defensive approach in the money-rich tournament.
“Vyshak Vijaykumar has to be included in the setup. He is one of the best defensive bowlers in the tournament,” the former Indian all-rounder said.
“They’d have to find way to being him in. Harpreet Brar did well too, so did Chahal, but they missed Vijaykumar,” he explained.
