Dravid Calls For Calm As India Experiment In Sri Lanka Series

India fell to Sri Lanka by 16 runs in the second T20I in Pune, with touring captain Dasun Shanaka crowned Player of the Match after a storming performance with bat and ball. The teams meet in Rajkot on Thursday in the series decider.

Bowling discipline came under the microscope in the defeat at the MCA Stadium, with wides and no-balls leaked in a Sri Lankan total of 206/6. India struggled with the bat early in reply at 34/4, with the salvage effort from Suryakumar Yadav (51 from 36 balls) and Axar Patel (65 from 31 balls) ultimately to no avail.

Struggling for his run-up on his return to the international fold, Arshdeep Singh bowled three no-balls on the trot in his first over, before bowling two more in his death-over return. He finished with 0/37 from the two overs, as Sri Lanka capitalised on the extra opportunities.

Dravid was quick to defend Arshdeep and the young bowling group for the inconsistency, explaining that experience will yield results.

“Nobody wants to bowl wides and no-balls in any format of the game, but especially in the T20 format of the game.

“The young kids will have games like this at times, and I think we all need to be patient with them, (but) we need to be understanding that games like this can’t happen.

“I think as they’re learning, it’s tough. It’s not easy learning in international cricket. You have to learn on the job. I think we’re going to have to have a little bit of patience with these guys.