IPL 2022 | How Arshdeep Singh did his mastery in death overs?

Arshdeep Singh is arguably the most improved bowler in the last couple of years and has been an absolute revelation in the IPL. He was initially seen as a bowler who could give 3 overs early in the powerplay due to his ability to swing the ball. But over the years, he has improved both as a powerplay and a death bowler and Punjab Kings would definitely be pleased on retaining him ahead of the mega auction. His ability to bowl at wider angles from the crease and deliver good variations makes him a lethal bowler in the death overs and this fact is proven by his record this season. 

The above stats are his record in the death overs this season and this record is even more phenomenal considering the number of deliveries he bowled in this phase (48). He has the second-best economy rate and balls per boundary value for a bowler who has bowled above 30 deliveries in the death overs. 

Let us now go a little in-depth by understanding his individual phase analysis in the death overs

Note - Value in the brackets referred to the number of balls delivered

Here we can see that Arshdeep has maintained a consistent economy across all the three phases. He has bowled 12 deliveries in the 2nd phase and has conceded an economy of just 5. He has an even better record in the third phase conceding an economy rate of just above 7 despite bowling 28 deliveries. This gives us a fair idea of how consistent he has been in the death overs. 

Let us delve deeper and see his line and length split in the death overs.

Here we can see the variations he has clearly possessed in the death overs with deliveries rarely going down the leg side. He has bowled nearly 23 per cent of his deliveries in the yorker zone and an additional 12.5 per cent of the deliveries were low dipping full tosses which are difficult to hit if not in the right position inside the crease. He has mostly bowled around the fuller length region and has always bowled to his field. Sometimes, he also surprises his opponents by bowling a couple of fuller length deliveries and then bringing out the short or bouncer length delivery.

Another interesting fact to note here is that Arshdeep has bowled only 55 yorkers (economy rate of 5.8) in all phases before this edition of IPL while in this edition, he has bowled 11 yorkers in the death overs itself which speaks volumes of his improvement in blockhole bowling.

Arshdeep Singh might not be that bowler who gives regular wickets, especially with respect to his recent IPL record, he has taken only 3 wickets. But what stands out in him is his ability to induce pressure on the opponent batter but cramp him for room. He will ultimately be responsible for a wicket indirectly when the batter tries to go for a release shot against another bowler in the succeeding overs.

It's a very interesting trait in bowler and every team would love to have a couple of these knacky bowlers on their side.