In his direct response to India pacer Arshdeep’s “embarrassing” no-ball display, Brett Lee provides suggestions.

Arshdeep Singh, the captain of the Indian attack, had a miserable night in the Pune T20I encounter against Sri Lanka a fortnight ago. He made history by bowling five no-balls in a row, a first in the history of the international format, costing India 16 runs, the exact amount by which Sri Lanka shocked the Hardik Pandya-led team. Brett Lee, a former Australia paceman, responded to the situation candidly before giving the youngster some advice. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Lee explained why a no-ball is a “bowler’s worst enemy” and how bowling it sees the bowler to lose rhythm during a match.

“No ball is a bowler’s worst enemy. Nothing costs a bowler more mental agony and embarrassment than a no-ball because you not only have to bowl an extra delivery, you give the license to the batter to do anything he/she wants. It’s a dagger through the bowler’s heart. Rhythm is a funny thing. A bowler can do magic if he/she has it but it makes you look hapless and helpless once that rhythm is lost,” he said. He used Arshdeep’s recent performance in that game against Sri Lanka, where he had produced five such deliveries, as an example of how much a no-ball can cost a bowler. He did, however, acknowledge that when bowlers return from an injury layoff, they frequently try a little bit harder, which leads to no balls.

“I saw India’s Arshdeep Singh completely lose it in that T20 game against Sri Lanka a few days back. He bowled no ball after no ball after no ball. 5 no balls in that game. It would be a hard pill to swallow for him. He only bowled two overs conceding 37 runs. And he was returning to the side after being sidelined with an injury. He overstepped three times in a row in his second over. Sometimes a bowler can lose rhythm when they are coming back from an injury because they are trying too hard. They lose their shape and momentum. It’s tough because you want to achieve that dream of picking wickets and keep the captain happy,” he said. Lee, who has witnessed Arshdeep’s ascent through the ranks, has some advice for the India star and thinks he can make a great comeback. “I believe Arshdeep has the goods to back it up. My advice to him would be to go back to training, delete it, find out what he did wrong, and learn from that mistake.”