Punjab Kings’ pack leader Arshdeep Singh revealed that the plan was to bowl wide yorkers in the death overs after registering an 11-run win against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Singh said they wanted the GT batters to hit on the offside of the ground, which was not easy.

The left-arm seamer also noted that it is not easy for the batters to hit the wide yorkers even when the bowler fails to execute it to perfection. Singh hailed Vijaykumar Vyshak, who was able to keep Sherfane Rutherford at bay despite the West Indies’ left-hander getting off to a solid start.

Vyshak was able to nail his wide yorkers and conceded only 10 runs in the 15th and 17th over of the innings while defending a par score of 244.

Furthermore, Arshdeep Singh was able to dismiss a well-settled Sai Sudharsan, who scored 74 runs off 41 balls.

Arshdeep Singh said after the win while talking to the broadcasters, “The thought was simple and very clear – make them hit to the off-side, it is not easy to hit there, if they hit a good shot, clap, say well played and go again.”

Praising Vyshak, Singh said, “Really happy for him, he is putting in the hard yards in the practice, was executing the yorkers really well in practice and the results showed in the game as well. If you want to miss, miss on the wider side and not on the stumps. Even if it slips, even if it’s a full-toss, it won’t be easy for them to hit as it’s very far from their reach.”

Singh also gave credit to the PBKS batters to post a par score on the board. Shreyas Iyer scored an unbeaten 97 whereas Shashank Singh added the finishing touches with 16-ball 44.

He concluded, “Credit goes to all the batters who went in and smashed from ball number one. That’s how it goes in this format nowadays. There is no par score, 240, 250, 260 – score as much as possible and then try and defend it.”

Punjab Kings will next take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on Tuesday.