Arshdeep Singh admitted that he was under pressure as he hadn’t been able to take any wicket in ODIs before Sunday’s game in Johanneburg, which was his fourth ODI appearance. He went wicketless in the two bowling innings he had before the five-for at the Wanderers.

However, his plan to effect dismissals in the form of lbw and bowled by attacking the stumps in helpful conditions early on paid off.

“I was under a bit of pressure because I never took any wicket in ODIs before this game. The wicket had some purchase early on and the plan was to get some lbw and bowled dismissals, and I’m very happy with this effort of mine,” Arshdeep said later.

“Personally, I will rate this very highly. I didn’t have any wicket before in the ODIs and to get a fifer directly, I’m really grateful,” the 24-year-old added.

Arsheep though had felt a little sore after his 10 overs, owing to the high altitude of the Wanderers ground. “It’s a little different than the normal grounds. I was running out of breath, but I would thank KL Rahulbhai as he said, ‘You have to come back and get that fifer’.

“I guess it’s about enjoying this moment.”

Given the ability of some of the Proteas batters when it comes to unleashing the big hits, Arshdeep felt he and his bowling colleagues had a tough job of restricting the hosts to “under 400”. But the moisture in the wicket early on comforted the Indian bowlers a little bit.

“Axar (Patel), Avesh (Khan) and I went for dinner last night (Saturday) and were discussing how brutal the Proteas can be when they wear pink jerseys, how they hit sixes...” Arshdeep recalled.

“We were just thinking about restricting them to under 400. But when we saw the purchase from the wicket and a bit of moisture, we just kept it simple and the results fell in place. We could pick up early wickets.”

Arshdeep didn’t forget to acknowledge Avesh’s effort either. “He took the pressure off me and got wickets.”

Ishan pulls out of Tests, Bharat in

Centurion: Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan will not be a part of the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa as he has flown back home due to personal reasons.

Kona Bharat, who is currently in South Africa as India 'A' skipper, has been inducted into the main squad.

"Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. The wicketkeeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad. The men's selection committee has named KS Bharat as a replacement," the BCCI said in a statement.

Kishan made his Test debut in the West Indies after Bharat was given five Test matches in which he failed to score a single fifty.

It is expected that KL Rahul, who has expressed his willingness to don the big gloves in the longest format too, will keep wickets in the Boxing Day Test.

Premier pacer Mohammed Shami had earlier been ruled out of the Test series because of an ankle injury.

With inputs from PTI