Fans have right to express their love and anger: Arshdeep Singh

CHRISTCHURCH: India fast bowler Arshdeep Singh, who has seen a fair amount of ups and downs in his short international career, feels fans have the right to express their love and anger and players should accept both.

The 23-year-old was brutally trolled for dropping a crucial catch of Asif Ali in India's five-wicket defeat against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022. His Wikipedia page was defaced as well, reading Arshdeep had been selected to play for the "Khalistani national cricket team".

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had summoned Wikipedia executives in India to seek an explanation on how the left-arm pacer' page entry was changed. However, the youngster has shown great maturity and learnt to take love and hate in his stride as well.

"People love us and our game a lot. So when we perform our best, people love us and when we don't perform, people show their disappointment. So there is nothing like dealing with this. They express their emotions because we play for India and it is the fans' right to express their love or anger. We should accept both," Arshdeep said in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

After having brilliant outings with the ball in T20I cricket, Singh earned an ODI call-up and made his debut in the first match against New Zealand in the ongoing three-match series.

"It feels good to debut in the ODIs after playing in T20Is for India. As it is a dream for any youngster to play for India, my aim is also to represent the country and win matches for India," he said.

"I don't think my journey is easy or challenging. We as players focus on playing, enjoying the process, and not thinking much about it being easy or challenging. When we perform at our best, it feels good. We take the game match by match and don't really think too much that I want myself here in the next year or so," he added.

Asked about the rain, which has followed the teams around in T20 and ODI series, Arshdeep said, "Weather is not in our control, mentally and physically we try to be prepared to get back to play whenever it resumes, we look to focus on processes and follow the plans that are in place."