Arshdeep Singh: Bad Day In Office
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-01-07 08:04:09
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
India's young and upcoming pacer Arshdeep Singh is in the news for the wrong reasons. He bowled too many no-balls in the second T20 against Sri Lanka, a match which India lost. He has been severely criticized for his performance. Arshdeep bowled five no-balls, three of them in succession in his first over, the second over of the Sri Lankan innings. A total of 7 were bowled by India. The Lankans managed to get 27 runs (including the ones they got on the subsequent free-hit deliveries) as a result of those no-balls in a match which India lost by 16 runs.
Captain Hardik Pandya said that that bowling a no-ball is a 'crime' in world cricket and players should not make such basic errors at international level. But head coach Rahul Dravid differed. He said that younger players can have bad days and "we all need to be patient and understand that things like this can happen". Former Indian great Sunil Gavaskar, though, had a different take. In his newspaper column, Gavaskar said that Arshdeep suffered due to lack of competitive cricket as he had not played for almost a month. He said that getting into rhythm straight off after a layoff is difficult and younger players should be playing as much as they can.
All three of them are right in their differing assessment. When a player, even though a youngster who has just started his international career, reaches the top level, he is not expected to bowl so many no-balls. But again, any bowler or batter can have an off day and can commit errors on a given day which he usually does not. That, as Dravid said, can happen. Also, getting back into rhythm after a layoff can be difficult but the player is expected to work on that (and the coaches should also put extra focus on such players) during practice before the match.
Arshdeep Singh is young and has already been subjected to abuse earlier by trolls. He was trolled this time too. He should be handled with care otherwise his confidence will take a beating. The team management must work with him to enable him to get over his problems and return to what he does best - be an excellent strike bowler for team India.
