Arshdeep Singh's personal coach Jaswant Rai spoke about former South African quick Charl Langeveldt's influence in his ward's journey.
The admirable rise of Arshdeep Singh reached its peak on Sunday (May 22) as the Punjab left-arm seamer got handed his maiden India call-up for the T20Is against South Africa in June. The young pacer earned the just reward for his spectacular performances in IPL 2022 for Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Arshdeep may have taken only 10 wickets from his first 13 games, but his ability to swing the new ball both ways at enhanced speeds and nail his yorkers consistently at the death caught the selectors’ eyes.
Heading into PBKS’ last league game on the day of his selection, the seamer had a tournament economy rate of 7.83, which falls to 7.31 in the end-overs phase.
Since the start of IPL 2020, Arshdeep Singh has been a rare shining light for a losing PBKS side, taking 37 wickets at 8.14 runs an over. The IPL 2020 was the start of Arshdeep’s ascent towards the India cap, the year he met renowned former South African fast-bowler Charl Langeveldt, who was part of PBKS’ support staff.
Arshdeep’s personal coach Jaswant Rai said working closely with Langeveldt in the initial days with PBKS turned his ward into a completely different bowler. Speaking to the Indian Express, Rai deemed Langeveldt’s influence as a pivotal one in Arshdeep’s journey so far.
“The impact Langeveldt had on Arshdeep in UAE was immense and it reflected in his performance as he showed no nerves against the power-hitters of the opposition teams,” Rai said.
The Langeveldt effect on his bowling was recognised with gratitude by Arshdeep Singh himself. The bowler said spending time with the South African gave his end-overs bowling an edge, as he began approaching the pressure situations well and got his execution right more consistently.
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“He taught me how to handle a pressure situation, how to execute plans; most importantly, just to back myself in every situation. He was very particular about finishing the over on a good note,” Arshdeep had told the Indian Express.
“Even if a bowler concedes 10 or 14 runs off his first three deliveries, he must not give up on that over and has to make a comeback in the next three. That was his mantra. Every single run in T20 is very crucial.”
“The other thing that worked for me was the size of the boundaries that we were playing on. It was again Charl’s idea to use it in our favour during the death overs. The batsman is surely going to go for everything, and we, as bowlers, should make it difficult for them to score,” he added.
