Arshdeep Singh has been heavily criticized by fans and former cricketers for bowling five no-balls in the second T20I against Sri Lanka, as Team India lost the match by 16 runs on January 5 in Pune.
After the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Gautam Gambhir came down hard on the young pacer, former Indian selector Saba Karim said that Arshdeep has some "technical shortcoming" in his bowling.
However, the former wicketkeeper blamed the Indian cricket team management for Arshdeep’s no-ball spree, as he questioned their decision to give the pacer a long break after the T20 World Cup in 2022. He believes that Arshdeep bowled five no-balls because he lost his rhythm due to the long break.
Saba Karim was quoted as saying by NDTV: “Yes, he has a technical shortcoming. It's up to Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) to figure out that why is he overstepping. There may be number of reasons. It generally happens when you lose rhythm in your run up.”
He continued, “What was the need to give him such a long break? Why didn't he travel to Bangladesh to play some games? Did he play any domestic cricket since coming back? He is such a fluid bowler and needs to play as many matches as he possibly can.”
Karim advised Arshdeep to go back to the basics to regain his lost rhythm. He said, “Once you are on the field, you have to be at the top of your mark. You can't be rusty. But that didn't happen with Arshdeep.”
He signed off by saying, “He needs to find out the rhythm in run up. If it happens once in a while one can understand. But, in a T20 game, you can't bowl 6-7 no balls. He needs to go back to the basics and I am sure he can come up with a much better kind of a rhythm.”
