In the second Twenty20 International on Friday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Team India lost spiritedly to the defending Asian champions, Sri Lanka. Despite the quick fifties of Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav, the hosts were limited to 190/8 in 20 overs as they attempted to reach a daunting target of 207. While India’s top-order had a bad day, Sri Lanka’s pacers delivered yet another surprise, propelling them to a strong total. Arshdeep Singh bowled five of the seven no-balls that the Indian bowlers conceded.

In the match’s second over, the young pacer was criticized for bowling a hat trick of no balls. He bowled a nine-ball over and gave up 19 runs.

After that, in the final over, he bowled two no balls and gave up 18 runs

Gautam Gambhir, a former India batter, is of the opinion that Arshdeep shouldn’t be playing international cricket because he clearly lacks rhythm since returning from an injury layoff.

“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.

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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.