It’s not about blaming Arshdeep however no-balls in any format is against the law: Hardik Pandya

Bowling no balls in any format is against the law, stated India skipper Hardik Pandya, including that he was not about blaming Arshdeep Singh however the younger pacer wants to return and rectify his primary errors.

India slumped to a 16-run loss within the second T20I as Sri Lanka levelled the three-match sequence 1-1.

Returning to the aspect after lacking the opener, Arshdeep seemed rusty and bowled as many as 5 no balls in his two overs, giving freely 37 runs.

“You can have a good day, you can have a bad day, but you shouldn’t be moving away from the basics. For Arshdeep, in this situation, it is very difficult. In past as well he’s bowled no-balls,” Pandya stated on the post-match presentation.

“It is not about blaming him or to be too hard on him, but we know no-balls in any format is a crime.” Pandya felt India weren’t on top of things within the powerplays each whereas bowling and batting.

“Both in bowling and batting, the powerplay hurt us. We made some basic errors, which we shouldn’t be making at this level. Everyone knows what it is. The learning for us is we should be focussing on what we can control,” he stated.

On debutant Rahul Tripathi being despatched to bat at quantity three, Pandya stated: “Rahul is accustomed to playing at no. 3, and someone coming in, we want to give them a role they are comfortable with. That’s why he batted at No. 3.” Dasun Shanaka led from the entrance, staring with the bat and ball each.

The Sri Lankan skipper, who hit a 22-ball 56 earlier than defending 21 off the final over, was adjudged the participant of the match.

“We could’ve done well in the middle part. Game was set by the openers. Need to play well in the middle order to allow finishers to finish well,” Shanaka stated.

He lavished reward on Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav, who stitched a 91-run sixth wicket stand to virtually take the sport away from Sri Lanka.

“It’s not the dew factor, it’s the skill of Indian batters. They took the game away from us but still we managed to hold the nerve. Really good to defend the total especially against India in these conditions.”