IPL 2021: Plan was to bowl wide yorkers to Samson, says Arshdeep

Sanju Samson's fighting hundred went in vain as Arshdeep Singh held his nerves in the final over to help Punjab Kings register a thrilling win over Rajasthan Royals here at the Wankhede on Monday.

Mumbai: After registering a thrilling four-run win against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh said that his side planned to bowl wide yorkers to Sanju Samson in the final over and it was good to see the plan paying off.

Sanju Samson’s fighting hundred went in vain as Arshdeep Singh held his nerves in the final over to help Punjab Kings register a thrilling win over Rajasthan Royals here at the Wankhede on Monday. KL Rahul’s calm and composed knock, aided by Deepak Hooda’s belligerent hitting, helped Punjab Kings post 221 in the allotted 20 overs. In response, Rajasthan Royals fell just four runs short of the target to clinch the game.

“IPL is such a big stage and such a good league, you cannot write off any team. I do not have any special preparation, I just back myself. The support staff always tells me to back myself and keep things simple. I try to bowl what the captain wants me to, if you have bluff, then bluff the batter not the skipper,” said Arshdeep during a virtual press conference.

“The field was set, the plan was to make Samson play wider, the plan was to bowl wide yorkers to Samson and if we executed that, it would have been harder for Samson to get under,” he added.

When asked how hard it was to bowl with dew around, Arshdeep said: “I guess every team practises bowling at the death with dew. I do not think there was that much dew, every team practises keeping dew in mind as toss is not in your control.”

Earlier, KL Rahul’s calm and composed knock, aided by Hooda’s belligerent hitting, helped Punjab Kings post a total of 221/6 against Rajasthan Royals. Rahul scored 91 runs off just 50 balls while Hooda set the Wankhede on fire with his 64-run knock from just 28 deliveries with the help of 4 fours and 6 sixes. Chris Gayle also chipped in with a valuable 40.

Punjab Kings will next lock horns against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday.