Rahul Dravid backs bowlers over shoddy display: “They are young kids; they will have games like these at times”

Team India head coach Rahul Dravid has backed his fast bowlers, who went for plenty of runs in the second T20I against Sri Lanka and lacked discipline with regard to no-balls and wides.

The Indian legend pointed out that the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Mavi are pretty young and inexperienced at the international level and are bound to have some bad days.

Sri Lanka beat India by 16 runs in Pune on Thursday (January 5) to level the three-match series 1-1. Left-arm seamer Arshdeep, who was making a comeback after missing the first game, had a forgettable day.

He bowled as many as five no-balls in two overs, three of them off consecutive deliveries. He even had Player of the Match Dasun Shanaka (56* off 22) caught off a no-ball towards the end of the Sri Lankan innings.

Shivam Mavi, who made his debut in the first T20I, went for 53 runs in his four overs. He bowled one no-ball and two wides. Sri Lanka took full advantage of the indiscipline of Indian bowlers to put up a mammoth 206-6 after being asked to bat first. The visitors then restricted India to 190-8.

Addressing India’s disappointing bowling during the post-match press conference, Dravid urged for patience, saying that the young bowlers are working hard to improve their skills. He said:

“Nobody wants to bowl wides (no-balls) in any format. Especially in T20s, they can hurt you. We need to be patient with lot of these young kids. There are a lot of youngsters playing in this team, especially our bowling attack. They are young kids; they will have games like these at times."

He continued:

“We all need to be patient with them and understanding. Of course, they are working hard, and we keep trying to help them, support them technically and also just creating the right environment for them to be able to get the best out of their skills.”

India gave it their all, but Sri Lanka have drawn level in the series with a win in a high-scoring game in Pune 👏

#INDvSL | 📝 Scorecard: bit.ly/3WPjN6t https://t.co/LjeGIagn5f

Dravid added that with the 50-over World Cup and the World Test Championship (WTC) final being held this year, the team will get an opportunity to try out more youngsters in the T20I format. He elaborated:

“It’s tough. It’s not easy learning in international cricket, and you have to learn on the job. The good thing is, with the focus on the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship, at least in T20Is, it gives us an opportunity to try out a lot of the younger guys.”

While Arshdeep and Mavi struggled, spinners Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal did a good job for the hosts, registering figures of 2-24 and 1-30 respectively.

“There was a lot of dew” - Dravid backs decision to bowl first

Despite the loss, Dravid termed the decision to bowl first after winning the toss as the right one.

According to the former player, there was plenty of dew towards the end of the game, but India could not capitalise on it, as they had lost too many wickets. When asked if India rued the decision to field first, Dravid replied:

“Not really. The amount of dew that was there at the backend. … It’s just that we lost a few wickets. If we had a few wickets in hand … we got close anyway. There was a lot of dew. They couldn’t bowl their spinners out because of the ball being wet. The decision was fine.”

Sri Lanka pacers blow away India's top three inside the first three overs 🔥

#INDvSL | 📝 Scorecard: bit.ly/3vGJ2ff https://t.co/x0xfCfbnZT

Chasing 207, India were five down for 57 in the tenth over. Axar Patel (65 off 31) and Suryakumar Yadav (51 off 36) lifted India’s hopes, but Sri Lanka held their nerve to level the series.