“The biggest mistake” – Saba Karim unhappy with Arshdeep Singh’s no-balls in IND vs SL 2nd T20I

Saba Karim has blamed Arshdeep Singh’s five no-balls as the prime reason behind India’s 16-run loss against Sri Lanka in Pune on Thursday, January 5. The former India selector added that Team India leaked too many runs in the last three overs, which helped the visitors post a 200+ total.

Karim, though, believes India’s loss is a blessing in disguise as they fought back and took the game to the last over.

Speaking on India News, Karim said:

“I think there are a lot of gains for India. How they fought back after losing five wickets, they will learn a lot. Bowling should have been better. We leaked a lot of runs in the last three overs. The biggest mistake was giving away too many no-balls.”

Karim pointed out that Arshdeep gave away 20-25 extra runs, which came to bite India back in the game. He felt that the left-arm pacer looked rusty after a month-long gap.

The former India cricketer said:

“In T20, if you are bowling no-balls, there’s a no bigger mistake. They bowled not one or two but many no-balls. You are bowling extra deliveries, especially free hits. I think India gave away 20-25 extra runs."

Karim continued:

"You can’t afford no-ball in T20 cricket. Lack of discipline. Arshdeep generally doesn’t ball no-balls. He came back after a long gap. He looked rusty today.”

Arshdeep bowled five no-balls. He finished with figures of 0/37 in his two overs. Meanwhile, Umran Malik and Shivam Mavi also conceded a no-ball each during Sri Lanka’s innings.

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Reetinder Sodhi hails Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel's fightback after Arshdeep Singh’s flop show

Former India player Reetinder Singh Sodhi, meanwhile, has praised Suryakumar Yadav and Axar Patel for their fighting efforts with the bat.

While Suryakumar scored a quickfire 51 off 36 balls, Axar hit 65 off 31 deliveries. Together, the duo hit nine sixes and six boundaries. They shared a 91-run partnership for the sixth wicket to recover India from 57/5. Axar, in particular, kept India’s hope alive until he got out in the 20th over.

Speaking on the same show as Saba Karim, Sodhi said:

“How Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav played today, [it was] outstanding batting. However, we made a lot of mistakes. The duo tried to put the train back on track, but we lost. A lot of mistakes that we need to improve.”

With the ball, Axar finished with figures of 2/24 in the second T20I. Earlier, he defended 13 runs off the last over to help the hosts win the previous game by two runs.

The T20I series is evenly poised at 1-1, with the third game scheduled to take place in Rajkot on Saturday (January 7).