"If you are coming after an injury, you should not be playing an international game" - Gautam Gambhir on Arshdeep Singh's no-ball issues

Gautam Gambhir has castigated Arshdeep Singh for bowling a plethora of no-balls and said that the left-arm seamer should have played domestic cricket before making a return to the national side after a long layoff.

Arshdeep bowled five no-balls and conceded 37 runs in the two overs he bowled in the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka in Pune on Thursday, January 5. The Lankan Lions set a massive 207-run target for Hardik Pandya and Co. and eventually won the match by 16 runs.

During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked about his thoughts on Arshdeep Singh's no-ball issues, to which he responded:

"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."

The former Indian opener blamed the lack of match practice for Arshdeep's rhythm issues, explaining:

"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."

Arshdeep's last competitive game was an ODI against New Zealand in November last year. He missed the first T20I against Sri Lanka as he had reportedly not fully recovered from an illness.

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"This thing is not acceptable" - Gautam Gambhir on Arshdeep Singh overstepping on multiple occasions

Hardik Pandya criticized Arshdeep Singh at the post-match presentation. [P/C: BCCI]

Gambhir was further asked if he was hard on his bowlers when they bowled no-balls during his captaincy career, to which he replied:

"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."

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that the extra runs conceded on the free hits made a telling difference in Thursday's game, elaborating:

"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."

Arshdeep bowled three back-to-back no-balls in his first over, which went for 19 runs. He overstepped twice when called back to bowl the 19th over, with Dasun Shanaka getting a lifeline as he was caught by Suryakumar Yadav on the long-on boundary off the first no-ball.