He’s done it many a time for Punjab Kings in the IPL. Now, Arshdeep Singh is showcasing his talent as a wily final-overs bowler on the international stage. In both their Super Four outings, against Pakistani and Sri Lanka, respectively, in the ongoing Asia Cup, the more experienced senior bowlers looked off-colour defending what India would have expected were challenging totals.

But it was Arshdeep who managed to raise hopes for the country by taking the games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka till almost the very last ball with seven runs to defend on each occasion. The 23-year-old’s yorkers and the yorker-length deliveries were almost spot-on, in fact, they seemed even more accurate against Sri Lanka on Tuesday as captain Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa had to get all of those seven runs through ones, twos and byes.

However, what also stands out is his ability to stay strong in his mind. For example, bowling that final over last Sunday against Pakistan. It was only a few minutes before that he had spilt an easy catch at short third man, which gave Asif Ali a reprieve. And then in the penultimate over, Asif rubbed salt on India’s wounds when he smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a maximum and a boundary that eased the equation for Pakistan.

But when Arshdeep ran into bowl that deciding over, the dropped catch didn’t seem to have had any bearing on him. He was stable and clear in his mind to nail those yorker-length deliveries one after another. With a few more runs to defend, Arshdeep would probably have been able to take India closer to victory in both games. Unfortunately, his senior colleague Bhuvneshwar, in spite of his all experience, kept erring in length in the penultimate overs (conceding 19 against Pakistan and 14 versus Sri Lanka), which left Arshdeep with little to defend thereafter.

For someone who was making only his ninth appearance at the international level, the ability to show such composure certainly makes him special. And prior to the Sri Lanka game, he had been subjected to obnoxious trolls as well on social media, though he did well to york them out. “He (Arshdeep) is a very confident lad and that’s why he is here. He has been with the team and ahead of a lot of guys sitting back at home because he’s clear in his mind.

“I’ve not seen many people like that in their early days of playing for India,” captain Rohit Sharma said after the loss to Sri Lanka. Rigorous practice Arshdeep’s rigorous practice of bowling yorkers at nets is one reason why he can execute them so well in matches, emphasised former Punjab coach Surendra Bhave.

“He practises bowling them regularly at nets and makes sure to get eightnine of them right out of 10,” Bhave, also a former national selector, said.