Former Australian pacer Brett Lee has come out in support of Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh, who was subjected to social media trolls and criticism for a dropped catch in an Asia Cup 2022 match against Pakistan.
In a Super Four match on Sunday, 4 September, Arshdeep dropped the catch of Pakistani batter Asif Ali, who later played a crucial cameo as his team won the match. Since that incident, the 23-year-old found himself at the epicentre of a cannonade of trolls on social media, while his Wikipedia page was also vandalized.
However, Arshdeep’s teammates and numerous former cricketers have since voiced their support for the youngster from Punjab, urging fans to abstain from social media trolling. Brett Lee is the latest on the list, asking the trolls to ‘go out there and do it themselves’ instead of ridiculing a player.
“To anyone on social media or from the press who are trying to put someone under pressure, I want to say, you go out there and do it with two billion people watching you and let’s see how you go. It is tough,” Lee said at an event recently.
Lee Feels Arshdeep Can Be a Very Effective Death Bowler
Barring the dropped catch, Arshdeep has not had a poor campaign in Asia Cup 2022. He picked up four wickets in as many matches – three of them coming against Pakistan. Besides that, he was given only seven runs to defend in both of India’s two Super Four games, and on both occasions, he kept his team alive till the penultimate delivery.
Praising the youngster’s composure at the death overs, Lee claimed Arshdeep has got all the qualities to be a fantastic death bowler. “I have been following Arshdeep Singh for a number of years now. When you bowl at the death, you have to deliver, because if you don’t, you could be blamed for your team losing. That has happened to me on numerous occasions in my career. He will learn from that. I still think he has got all it takes to be a very efficient death bowler. So all I am saying is, stick with him, don’t destroy the young kid,” he said.
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