Arshdeep Singh has had a mediocre IPL 2026. He was below his best when Punjab Kings (PBKS) were doing well, and he was below his best when PBKS were losing everything. And on Saturday, when PBKS finally ended a losing streak that had stretched to six games, Arshdeep was poor. While Ambati Rayudu pointed to Arshdeep’s lengths, Mark Boucher suggested the problem was fatigue.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) scored at 9.80 on Saturday in Lucknow. Arshdeep went at 17.33 and did not get to bowl his last over.

“I just think his lengths [are the problem]. He’s not someone who should be bowling a lot of short deliveries,” Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. “Even in the death, he should be bowling yorkers. And even with the new ball, whenever he has bowled full, except for the first ball which was driven through the covers, I don’t think his fuller balls went for so many runs as much as the short of length deliveries or the short ball.

“He should be mindful of that because his short ball, he doesn’t have a great bouncer at the moment, maybe because of his body being tired or he doesn’t have the same juice as what he did a few months back. But he definitely has to compensate. If he has to overcompensate, he needs to be full.”

Arshdeep has actually had a lot less success with the fuller/good length deliveries this season than he did in IPL 2025. Last year, he had ten wickets at an economy rate of 8.45 and an average of 24.5 when he pitched the ball up, or landed it on a good length. This season, he has seven wickets, an economy rate of 9.91, and an average of 35.14.

On Saturday night, of course, whatever he bowled was smashed. But, for the record, he bowled 12 of his 18 deliveries either full (including full tosses) or on a length, and just six balls either short or short of good length.

Rayudu’s point, though, is fair: Arshdeep has always been more dangerous when he has pitched the ball up, allowing it to move in the air.

Arshdeep was India’s No. 2 fast bowler, behind Jasprit Bumrah, at the T20 World Cup earlier this year. He had a decent time of it – India won the trophy – with nine wickets from eight games with an economy rate of 8.46.

This IPL season, those numbers are 14 wickets from 14 games with an economy rate of 10.20. He is one of only two bowlers this season to concede over 500 runs. Anshul Kamboj of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the other, but he has 21 wickets to show too.

“I think it’s just being tired [after the T20 World Cup] and this month being the IPL, and he had to play in this. That’s the reason why he’s like that,” Boucher said. “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with his skill or his talent. At some stage, it [the fatigue] has to catch up with the players. It’s just, it’s natural.

“So yes, I think that he is maybe a bit tired. But the one thing about him [is that] he knows that he’s going to be playing. It’s not like he’s an international [overseas player] where you’ve got quite a few different options and you can rest players here and there. He has to play. And I think that’s where maybe he needs to back his skill set as well. I think that he’s trying too hard with the new ball to take the ball both ways.”

Fatigue or not, as Boucher pointed out, Arshdeep will be in the XI if PBKS get another game, which is dependent on how the results pan out on Sunday night. If or when he does play, he will have at least one more chance to make amends for a season gone very wrong.