Arshdeep Singh knows how to bounce back. In 2022, when he dropped a sitter against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, he was subjected to online abuse. He had shown his mental fortitude in the same game by bowling an excellent 20th over, even though India went on to lose.
A month later, when India faced Pakistan at the T20 World Cup, Arshdeep trapped Babar Azam lbw with his very first ball. In his next over, he dismissed Mohammad Rizwan, and finished with 3 for 32 from four overs.
The third T20I against South Africa in Dharamsala was another example of Arshdeep's bouncebackability. In the previous game in New Chandigarh, his home ground, he had leaked 54 in four overs without taking a wicket. He missed his wide yorkers time and again, even bowling seven wides in one over. On Sunday, he put all that behind him and emerged as the Player of the Match, taking 2 for 13 from four overs. He didn't bowl a single wide.
Before the match began, Dharamsala promised two things. The ground is roughly 1.5km above sea level; the rarefied air makes the ball travel farther. At the same time, it's chilly and there's help for seamers, both in the air and off the surface. On Sunday the second overpowered the first.
It helped, perhaps, that Dharamsala is Arshdeep's home ground in a way, as his IPL team Punjab Kings play half of their home matches here. "When I walked in, everyone was telling me [that]," he said after the game. "I told them, 'No, this is not my home ground.' So that felt better."
But there were still challenges. Dew had started setting in even before the toss. And with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable, Arshdeep had the extra responsibility of leading the seam attack.
He overcame both with aplomb. Bowling the first over after India chose to field, he seemed to have the ball on a string. With his second and third deliveries, he squared up Reeza Hendricks with his angle across the right-hand batter, and then trapped him lbw with the one that swung in.
That was Arshdeep's 48th wicket in the first six overs in T20Is. It took him past Bhuvneshwar Kumar's India record for most T20I wickets in that phase. This was also the 20th occasion on which he had dismissed a batter for a duck in T20Is, again the most by an Indian, again going past Bhuvneshwar's tally.
Did he change anything from the last game? "Nothing," he said. "I just pitched the ball in the right areas and tried to get as much help from the wicket [as possible]. When you play at this level, there are days when you won't execute the things you want to. That was just a one-off day."
Harshit Rana, playing his first match of the series, shared the new ball with Arshdeep. He, too, gave a good account of himself. Quinton de Kock has been in red-hot form ever since his return to international cricket. Rana had dismissed him in the first ODI in Ranchi. That time de Kock was caught behind driving at a wobble-seam delivery that moved away from him.
Here, he was lbw looking to hit the bowler across the line. The ball angled in from around the wicket, beat the inside edge, and pinged the pads. It reduced South Africa to 1 for 2, the kind of score that often makes you do a double-take, especially with the Ashes on down under, where the scoring conventions are flipped on their head.
While Arshdeep largely bowled on and around a good length, Rana tried different tactics. With the last ball of his over, he hurried Dewald Brevis with a short delivery, inducing a miscue. But Varun Chakravarthy was slow to react at square leg and could not get to the ball.
That short ball probably left Brevis leaden-footed. In the following over, he found himself stuck in the crease against Arshdeep, only an inside edge saving him from being lbw. Eventually, Brevis chopped on against Rana. It was full and wide, and as Brevis threw his bat at it, his hands in one postcode and his feet in another. Remember that oft-quoted nugget about losing three wickets in the powerplay? India had won half the battle.
South Africa kept sliding and were 77 for 7 at one point. Only Aiden Markram offered some resistance. When Rana returned for his final over, the 18th of the innings, Markam hit him for two sixes and a four. That spoiled Rana's figures; he finished with 2 for 34. It was the perfect example of numbers not telling the whole story.
Arshdeep, however, finished strongly. While he didn't nail his go-to wide yorkers - a couple ended up as low full-tosses - it was not easy to put him away. When Markram tried to go after a full and wide delivery, he edged it behind.
There is no doubt about Arshdeep's class. As he said, and showed, his display in New Chandigarh was an aberration. It was doubly sweet for India, with Bumrah absent, that Rana turned it on too. All excellent signs in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup.