IMAGE: Captain Hardik Pandya speaks to Arshdeep Singh, who bowled 5 no-balls within the second T20I towards Sri Lanka on Thursday. Photograph: BCCI

Bowling no-balls in any format is a criminal offense, mentioned 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 collection 1-1.

Returning to the aspect after lacking the opener, Arshdeep seemed rusty and bowled as many as 5 no-balls in his forgettable two-over spell, conceding 37 runs. Infact, the Indian bowlers in whole despatched down seven no-balls.

“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 mentioned after the loss.

“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 mentioned that 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 mentioned.

On debutant Rahul Tripathi being despatched to bat at quantity three, Pandya mentioned: “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.”

For Sri Lanka, captain Dasun Shanaka led from the entrance, smashing a quickfire 56 from 22 balls to supply his crew with the late flourish after which bowled the essential remaining over through which he claimed two wickets.

“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 mentioned.

He lavished reward on Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav, who stitched a 91-run sixth wicket stand to convey India again within the hunt within the center overs after a horror begin.

“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.”