'He's not Umran Malik, he's not Mohammed Siraj': Gautam Gambhir's hard-hitting statement on Arshdeep amid NZ series
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir gave a noteworthy mention to premier pacers Umran Malik and Mohammed Siraj in his hard-hitting statement against fast bowler Arshdeep Singh during the T20I series between India and New Zealand.
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels Arshdeep Singh should stick to the basics and keep things simple if the speedster wants to avoid bowling no-balls in the limited-overs format. Arshdeep's tale of no-balls became a major talking point of late. It has continued in the T20I series between India and New Zealand.
Tasked to bowl the final over of the New Zealand innings in the 1st T20I, Arshdeep kickstarted the proceedings with a front foot no ball which was hammered for a six by Daryl Mitchell. The Indian pacer ended up leaking 27 runs in the final over as New Zealand managed to post a match-winning total of 176/6 in 20 overs at Ranchi.
Sharing his views on Arshdeep's horror show series opener, Gambhir stated that bowling no balls is ‘absolutely unacceptable’ in international cricket. “I think. these numbers are fine, It can go south and it can go north. But the most important thing is you can’t afford to bowl those no-balls. That is absolutely unacceptable, especially at this level, and it can come back to hurt you and the team big time," Gambhir told Star Sports.
“And that is exactly what happened in the previous game. Just keep the basics right. See, World Cup conditions are completely different from what you normally get back home. In Australia, it was swinging and it was still bouncing, decent carry as well with the new ball. But when you play at the sub-continent, these are flat wickets,” Gambhir added.
The former India opener-turned commentator also observed that Arshdeep doesn't have the lethal pace in his repertoire which can unnerve premier batters. Mentioning premier pacers Umran Malik and Mohammed Siraj in his hard-hitting statement, Gambhir also urged pacer Arshdeep to develop variations in his bowling.
"You gonna have something different up your sleeves whether it's a slower one or a slower bouncer. Some kind of variation. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the speed to actually rattle the batsmen. So he's got to develop some variation. He is not Umran Malik, he's not Mohammed Siraj. So one thing he needs to do is probably try and keep it very simple and sort his no balls out which is equally important,” Gambhir added.
