Former South African captain Faf du Plessis opined that Arshdeep Singh’s six-run over in the T20 World Cup 2026 match against the West Indies had a huge impact on the end result. Describing it as a match-winning over, Du Plessis added that small contributions like that often make a huge impact in the overall picture.
India beat the West Indies by five wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday, March 1 in a must-win clash of the T20 World Cup 2026. Bowling first, India held the Windies to 195-4 and then chased down the target in 19.2 overs. With the win, the Men in Blue also qualified for the semifinals.
While Sanju Samson (97* off 50) was the star of the show for India, Du Plessis picked the 19th over bowled by Arshdeep as the game-changing moment. Having gone for 24 runs in his previous over, the left-handed pacer made a brilliant comeback and conceded only six runs in the penultimate over, which went a long way in ensuring that the West Indies did not cross the 200-run mark.
During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Du Plessis made a special mention of Arshdeep’s effort under pressure and commented:
“That one over in the context of the game is credit to him. The way that he executed – to go for six on a small ground, that is a match-winning over. If you are sitting in the dressing room and do the accolades, the coach or captain goes – our player of the day is you because of that over. People don’t realize how important a small contribution is in the big picture.”
Former India captain Anil Kumble also agreed that the Arshdeep’s six-run over was extremely crucial in the context of the match. He commented:
“Having gone for 24 runs, and then sticking to his plan of wide yorkers… Maybe West Indies could have been smarter. Instead of looking to pump him down the ground for a six., they could have used the pace and the ground as well, which they didn’t. So, it worked in his favor.”
Arshdeep ended the T20 World Cup clash with figures of 0-43 from four overs. Jasprit Bumrah stood out with 2-36, while Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakaravarthy registered identical figures of 1-40 from four overs.
“You cannot afford that against England” – Anil Kumble on India’s worry ahead of T20 World Cup 2026 semifinal
While India progressed to the semifinals of the T20 World Cup 2026 with a win against the Windies, their fielding was poor once again. The Men in Blue dropped three catches on Sunday. Kumble opined that India cannot afford another bad day in the field against England in the knockout clash. He stated:
“The fielding, we saw the nerves were there. Dropped catches, misfields – you don’t expect that. Come semifinal, you cannot afford that against England. India would be happy, but there were nerves certainly because this was a must-win game.”
Team India will face England in the second semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 5.
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert