Shaun Pollock heaped praise on Arshdeep Singh and his brave mental approach when it comes to picking wickets when the opportunity presents itself after his heroics in Johannesburg.

Arshdeep delivered a remarkable performance in the first ODI against South Africa. The young Indian pacer showcased his skill by claiming a five-wicket haul, with figures of 5/37 in his 10 overs. This feat made him the fourth Indian bowler to take a five-for against South Africa and the first Indian pacer to do so in ODIs. | SA vs IND, 1st ODI – Scorecard |

His efforts, alongside Avesh Khan’s four wickets, were instrumental in skittling out South Africa for a mere 116 runs, setting up India for an eight-wicket victory.

Speaking to Star Sports after the game, Pollock said that the left-arm pacer has sorted out how to bowl up front and at the death. The Proteas legend felt that the key for Arshdeep on the day was the swing he got through the air and praised his approach during the game.

“Yeah. I thought it was a brilliant performance from him. I noticed in the T20 International, the last one happened that on the ground, he didn’t open the bowling.”

“And for me, when I’ve watched him over the years, I reckon the two elements of his game that he’s got down and well sorted out is his ability to shape the ball up front and be effective. And then at the back end, he has some really good yorkers, and then you can mix them up with some slow deliveries.”

“But I think the key for him today was the swing he got through the air. I think they would have been surprised by the assistance they got out of that surface. It looked really dry, but it was almost like because of the dryness of the nature of the pitch the ball was gripping and that was making the ball nip around.”

“But the key to me was the shapes through the air and the consistent things that he held. Obviously, he picked up one wicket, picked up the second, went through that variation, understood what was required against Rassie van der Dussen in his first delivery.”

“Also, having the brave mental approach to be deciding to try and pick up a wicket when the opportunity presented itself. So I think it was superb.

Pollock also praised Arshdeep for his fitness to be able to bowl 10 out of the first 25 overs on the go and felt it helped him reap the rewards on Sunday.

“And also the fitness to be able to bowl 10 of the 25 overs was brilliant by Arshdeep.”

“You know, sometimes it passes by you think, well ‘oh, I’m used to three overs or four overs in T20s. I’m gonna hold back.”

“He didn’t. He was able to use his fitness to bowl those balls in and he reaped the rewards. And I’m really happy. He had to wait for his first international wicket. But then to get five was brilliant,” said Pollock.