Arshdeep had spilled the catch at short third man when Asif Ali’s top edged an attempted slog sweep off Ravi Bishnoi. Pakistan had needed 32 runs from 15 balls when the catch was put down. Next over, Asif looted 19 runs off Bhubaneshwar Kumar to reduce the equation to 7 off the final over. But Arshdeep fought back with a fine last over, that included Asif Ali’s wicket, trapped lbw. But needing 2 off the last two balls, Pakistan won it off the penultimate ball. Even before the weak throw came in from the deep and before the batsmen completed the second run, a disappointed Arshdeep flicked out the bails at the non-striker’s end. His team-mates would run in to pat his back and console him. On the social media, unsurprisingly, the trolls were after him for dropping catch and it led to Harbhajan Singh to tweet out in support. Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh No one drop the catch purposely..we are proud of our 🇮🇳 boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout arsh and team.. Arsh is GOLD🇮🇳 — Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) September 4, 2022 “Stop criticising young @arshdeepsinghh No one drop the catch purposely..we are proud of our boys .. Pakistan played better.. shame on such people who r putting our own guys down by saying cheap things on this platform bout arsh and team.. Arsh is GOLD,” Harbhajan Singh tweeted. Soon, Mukund too offered his support. He remembered how he was “absolutely inconsolable for hours” in his hotel room after dropping Australia’s Steve Smith in a Test at Pune. Smith was on 37 when Mukund dropped him at short-leg and went on to hit a match-winning hundred. After dropping steve smith in the pune test, i was absolutely inconsolable for hours alone in my room. I really hope @arshdeepsinghh doesnt feel that way. He will be more gutted than anyone else in our country tonight. Lets cut him some slack! #INDvsPAK — Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) September 4, 2022 “After dropping steve smith in the pune test, i was absolutely inconsolable for hours alone in my room. I really hope @arshdeepsinghh doesnt feel that way. He will be more gutted than anyone else in our country tonight. Lets cut him some slack!” His IPL team Punjab Kings also tweeted: “We are with you Arsh”. We’re proud of you, Arsh 👏🥹❤️ — Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) September 4, 2022 Former India pacer Irfan Pathan tweeted: "Arshdeep is a strong character. Stay that way boy." Arshdeep is a strong character. Stay that way, boy. @arshdeepsinghh — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) September 4, 2022 When a player is down is when you have to reach out to him so he emerges stronger. Saying nasty things about Arshdeep does nobody any good. We have all made mistakes under pressure. This is the time to back him. He will win India a lot of matches— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 5, 2022 AAP MP Raghav Chadha, former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and BJP leader Manjinder Sirsa also backed the 23-year-old fast bowler. Chadha also said the kind of hate Arshdeep was being subjected to is appalling. The kind of hate 23 year old Arshdeep is being subjected to is appalling. Let us cut that young man some slack. Arshdeep is an amazing talent and will lead the Indian bowling attack in the coming years. No hate can pull him down. #IStandWithArshdeep pic.twitter.com/CL1o4oVSLD— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) September 5, 2022 "Let us cut that young man some slack. Arshdeep is an amazing talent and will lead the Indian bowling attack in the coming years. No hate can pull him down," said Chadha in his tweet. Victory or defeat is given in game. @arshdeepsinghh is upcoming star who carved out niche in short span. Performed excellent against Pakistan. Regressive psyche to troll him on drop of just a catch. Arshdeep is future of Nation. Inspiration for youth. Hate has no place in sports.— Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer (@meet_hayer) September 5, 2022 Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said Arshdeep is a future of the nation. "Victory or defeat is given in game. @arshdeepsinghh is upcoming star who carved out niche in short span. Performed excellent against Pakistan. Regressive psyche to troll him on drop of just a catch. Arshdeep is future of Nation. Inspiration for youth. Hate has no place in sports," said Hayer in his tweet. He spoke to Arshdeep's mother Baljit Kaur on the phone and told her that Punjab and the whole country was with him. Former CM Amarinder Singh said it was unfortunate that Arshdeep was being mocked over dropping the catch. "Such things (dropping a catch) happen in sports especially under such tremendous pressure. We must support and encourage our sports heroes. Arshdeep, do not be disappointed. You have a long and glorious career ahead,” he said in a Facebook post. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also slammed those who targeted Arshdeep and called him a 'Khalistani'. "Arshdeep Singh is a bright player. He played very well and everybody in the country stands by him," he said in a video message. India comes before Cricket. I reject Pak propaganda and stand with Arshdeep Singh.#IndiawithArshdeep pic.twitter.com/7YaIbAiyfk— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) September 5, 2022 In a tweet, he said, "India comes before Cricket. I reject Pak propaganda and stand with Arshdeep Singh." With inputs from PTI
