Arshdeep Singh “Shouldn’t Be Playing”: Gautam Gambhir On Pacer’s ‘No-Ball’ Blunder Against Sri Lanka In 2nd T20I

Team India went down fighting against the reigning Asian champions Sri Lanka in the second T20I on Friday, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Chasing a daunting target of 207, the hosts were restricted to 190/8 in 20 overs, despite Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire fifties. While India’s top-order had an off-day at the office, the Indian pacers had yet another shocker as Sri Lanka powered their way to a strong total. The Indian bowlers gave away seven no-balls, with Arshdeep Singh bowling five of them.

The young pacer was criticised for bowling a hat-trick of no balls in the second over of the match. He ended up bowling a nine-ball over, conceding 19 runs.

He then bowled two no balls in the penultimate over, and gave away 18 runs.

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir feels Arshdeep shouldn’t be playing international cricket as he is clearly lacking rhythm after coming back from an injury lay-off.

“Imagine seven balls, it’s like bowling more than 21 overs. Everyone bowls bad balls or plays bad shots but it’s about the rhythm. If you are coming after an injury, you should not be playing an international game. You should be going to domestic cricket and getting your rhythm back because no-balls are not acceptable. Whoever is injured and there is a long layoff, he has to go back to domestic cricket, bowl 15-20 overs, come back and then play an international game, and that was squarely seen when Arshdeep Singh was struggling with his rhythm,” Gambhir said on Star Sports during the post-match show.

Gambhir also suggested that the players are bowling a lot of no balls in the nets, which is why they are repeating the same mistakes in international matches.

“As I just mentioned, you can have a shocker. Fielders can have a shocker, batters can play bad shots, bowlers can bowl those shocking deliveries but this thing is not acceptable. You might be doing it in the nets, during the practice sessions, that’s the reason you do it in the match as well. So it’s up to the bowling coach to probably work on that as well because you have got to be harsh in the practice sessions. You just can’t blame something else. Yes, it is tough for the captain to set fields. Seven no-balls and imagine conceding 30-odd runs in those seven balls was a massive difference,” he added.

The three-match T20I series is tied at 1-1, with India and Sri Lanka set to square off in the series decider on Saturday.

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