3 instances when no-balls have hurt the Indian team

In cricket, just as in life, there is a list of things you commit which are unpardonable and a bowler bowling a no-ball tops it by a country mile. A bowler bowling a no-ball is a testimony to his indiscipline and a repetition of which shows the lack of game sense and the willingness to improve, something which subtly differentiates an accomplished player from a good one.

Indian bowlers in recent years have developed an insatiable love for bowling no-balls at crucial junctures on momentous occasions that proved to be the gaffe of epic proportions for the team.The Pink ODI at Johannesburg was an instance which had presented India an opportunity to win four games in a row in the Rainbow Nation, a feat they have never achieved before.

As Yuzvendra Chahal's bowled two no-balls, it helped David Miller and the Proteas to stage a comeback at the Wanderers.

Here's a look at the recent past where the Indian bowler's bowling no-ball at a crucial juncture cost India the game.

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#3 South Africa vs India, 4th ODI (The Pink ODI) Wanderers, Freedom Trophy 2018

It was turning to be an encore of the first three ODIs with India putting up a competitive total of 289-6 on the board and then had the South Africans on the tenterhooks, with the wrist spinners bamboozling their batsmen.

In a rain-curtailed game where the Proteas needed 202 runs in 28 overs, the batsmen took an aggressive route while tackling the wrist spinners. Chahal had been taken for 17 runs by AB de Villiers in his first over, but the leg-spinner came back roaring in the next over, only to see David Miller being dropped by Shreyas Iyer at the deep fine-leg.

South Africa had been reprived. But Miller looked completely at sea against Chahal as he played across the line to a flighted delivery only to see his stumps rattled. The bowler let out a roar, more out of relief, but his confidence plummeted to a new low when replays clearly showed he had overstepped the line.

South Africa was at 106-4 when Miller got a reprieve. He replied with three successive fours off Hardik Pandya in the very next over. Miller was ably supported by Heinrich Klaasen, who himself who smoked the Indian wrist spinners to all corners of the Bull Ring. Chahal bowled his second no ball in his fourth over, an over which was taken for 15 runs and possibly shifted the momentum decisively towards the South Africans.

In conditions less than ideal for spinners, coupled with it being a shortened game, the team that committed the least mistakes would always win.

Result: South Africa won by five wickets (D/L).

#2 India vs West Indies, 2nd Semifinal ICC WT20 2016, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

It was a World Cup semi-final at home and the hosts, riding on pristine batting from their superstar Virat Kohli, had everything going for them to achieve their second successive Finals berth at the World T20 2016. West Indies, in reply to the hosts 192-5, had their backs firmly against the wall when they lost their opener Chris Gayle in the first seven balls of the run chase.

A target of 193 wouldn't have worried Darren Sammy in the break, but seven balls into the chase, as the skipper was in jitters. West Indies were 19-2 when two of their most unheralded batsmen in their power-packed lineup, Johnson Charles, and Lendl Simmons came together at the crease. They started accumulating runs, securing one boundary in every over from the second to the fourteenth.

India was wavering, not because their bowlers couldn't fathom a way to get Simmons (82) out but because every time they did that, the bowler's front foot didn't have anything behind the dreaded line. Simmons got a reprieve twice, first when Ravichandran Ashwin got him caught at the third man, only to realize he has bowled a massive no-ball, which for a spinner is a crime and secondly when Hardik Pandya had him caught at extra-cover before realsiing that his front foot had strayed as well.

On a pitch as flat as the one in Wankhede and with viscous dew around, the two no balls eventually proved to be the difference in the end, as Simmons (82 not out off 51 balls) ably supported by Johnson Charles and Andre Russel, steered the Windies home with a plethora of wickets at their disposal.

Result: West Indies won by 7 wickets.

#1 India vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy Final at The Oval, London 2017

The Indian bowler's insatiable love for no-balls was on display again when the defending champions took on their arch-rivals Pakistan in the Final of the Champions Trophy in 2017, the culprit this time being Jasprit Bumrah. India was playing in their fourth major title Final in six years, and after a thumping 124-run win over Pakistan in the league stage, they entered the summit clash as prime contenders.

But their first mistake - the error that opened the floodgates - was Bumrah's overstepping in the fourth over to give a reprieve to rookie opener Fakhar Zaman (114), who had edged the ball to MS Dhoni when he was at three. Zaman added a further 111 to his tally to give Pakistan a platform on which their middle order built to swell the lead to 338-4 in 50 overs.

The Indian bowlers added two more no-balls to their tally, and such errors coupled with an insipid batting display, that saw the 'Men in Blue' reduced to 58-5 in the first fifteen overs ensured that the trophy had been handed over.

Result: Pakistan won by 180 runs.