Arshdeep Singh didn’t have a happy comeback into the Indian team as he was taken to the cleaners by Sri Lankan batters in the second T20I which was played in Pune on January 5. Arshdeep was carted for 37 runs in his 2 overs.
However, the bigger problem was him bowling 5 no balls in the match and 3 off which came consecutively with him conceding a four and a six off the free hits that resulted in the aftermath. This proved to be a game-changer in the match which Sri Lanka won by 16 runs after scoring 206/6 and restricting India to 190/8.
Arshdeep Singh also became the first Indian to bowl three no-balls in a row in T20I cricket and following India’s defeat, fingers were pointed at Arshdeep, however, coach Rahul Dravid backed the left-arm seamer.
He requested everyone to be patient with the 23-year-old saying that it is a learning curve for the youngsters who are in the Indian team.
“We need to be patient with a lot of these young kids, There are a lot of youngsters playing in this team, especially our bowling attack. They are young kids, they will have games like this. We all need to be patient with them, we need to be understanding that games like this can happen,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference on Thursday.
Dravid added that international cricket is learned while on the job and the youngsters will have off days once in a while.
“Of course, they are improving, we keep working hard and we need to help them and support them, technically, in whatever we can in terms of support and create the right environment and get the best of their skills. Very skillful, but they are learning, it’s tough, it’s not easy learning and playing international cricket and you have to learn on the job, So, yeah you got to have a little bit of patience with these guys.
The good thing is this year a lot of focus is going to be on the 50-over World Cup and the T20 games we have to give us the opportunity to try out these younger guys and hopefully give them opportunities and support them when they have tough games likes this, which they will (in future too),” said Dravid.
Dasun Shanaka was named the Player of the Match for his scintillating half-century which came off just 20 balls and his two wickets. For India, Suryakumar Yadav made 51 and Akshar Patel made 65 in 31 balls, while Umran Malik took 3/48 in his 4 overs.
The final T20I will be played in Rajkot on January 7.
(Firstpost inputs)
