Abu Dhabi: Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Dinesh Karthik played a brilliant knock of 58 off just 29 balls as KKR put on 164/6 in their 20 overs against Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi. But the man who won hearts was young Arshdeep Singh.
Playing only his second game, he finished with 1/25 from his four as he impressed all with his calm approach.
Even though he was bowling against an in-form Karthik and powerhouse Russell, Arshdeep kept hitting the right lengths and used good variation to keep them under check. He said the idea was to stick to his own strengths and execute the plans rather than think too much about who was batting.
"The plan was to keep it simple and execute it. We had to bowl wide against Russell and DK, and that plan paid off. It's all about the execution," he said while speaking to the host broadcasters during the mid-innings break.
While Kolkata didn't start too well, losing opener Rahul Tripathi and one down Nitish Rana early, Shubman Gill and Eoin Morgan managed to get the house in order for KKR before Karthik walked in to play a cameo.
Asked about the nature of the wicket and if it was easy playing some of the strokes that Karthik played, Arshdeep said: "It was sticking a bit into the surface at the start. But we bowled the hard lengths and it paid off."
When asked if he feels that the KXIP batsmen can chase the total down, the young medium pacer seemed confident that the boys can do the job. "The pitch is getting better to bat on, so I think it's a good score to chase," he said.
