'He needs to go back...': Hardik Pandya has advice for this bowler after loss against Sri Lanka

Indian cricket team captain Hardik Pandya was not a pleased man after his side surrendered the advantage in the series on Thursday. Pandya was especially not happy with the bowlers and pointed at Arshdeep Singh to get his basics right.

During the post-match presentation ceremony, Pandya reflected on the extras bowled by his bowlers and called the players to tighten up their basics of the game.

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"Going for runs is fine but no balls aren't. Not blaming or being hard but he (Arshdeep) needs to go back and make sure these basic errors don't happen at this level. It's not about blaming but no ball is a crime," Pandya told Murli Kartik.

The left-arm medium pacer had an off day in the field as he bowled as many as five no-balls during his two-over spell. Singh leaked 37 runs and became the first bowler in T20I history to bowl three no-balls on the trot.

"Both bowling and batting - powerplay hurt us. We made basic errors which we shouldn't do at this level. Learning should be the basics we can control. You can have a bad day but shouldn't be going away from basics," added Pandya.

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India were scratchy from the beginning after putting the visitors to bat first at the MCA Stadium in June. Openers Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis put on an 80-run partnership in under nine overs before Chahal made the first breakthrough.

After the wicket, India managed to claw their way back into the game as the Sri Lankan innings appeared going nowhere at the end of the 16th over as the scoreboard read 138/6.

However, skipper Dasun Shanaka stepped onto the plate and single-handedly changed the course of the match. Striking at 254.55, the right-handed batter smoked six sixes and two fours en-route to his 22-ball 56.

Courtesy of his magnificent knock, Sri Lanka managed a steep-looking score of 206 for six in 20 overs.

Chasing the total, India got off to the worst possible start four wickets fell in the powerplay. Despite a salvo from Axar Patel at the fag end of the innings, India fell short of the target by 16 runs.

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The decider of the series will be played in Rajkot on Saturday, January 7th.

(With inputs from agencies)

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