"You cannot make this mistake repeatedly if you are a professional" - Sunil Gavaskar on Ravindra Jadeja's no-ball issues

Sunil Gavaskar has criticized Ravindra Jadeja for repeatedly bowling no-balls, a transgression that cost India dearly on Day 1 of the third Test against Australia.

Australia would have been reduced to 14/2 in Indore on Wednesday, March 1, had Jadeja not overstepped when Marnus Labuschagne played a delivery onto his stumps before opening his account.

Labuschagne went on to score 31 and strung together a 96-run second-wicket partnership with Usman Khawaja. The visitors ended the day on 156/4 after having bowled out Rohit Sharma and Co. for 109 earlier.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar was disappointed with Ravindra Jadeja for overstepping regularly, saying:

"I want to talk about the no-ball. You cannot make this mistake repeatedly if you are a professional and especially if you are a spinner, you have to bowl from behind the crease."

The former Indian skipper pointed out that the left-arm spinner failed to control the controllable, elaborating:

"When you come for an interview in the evening, you say you like to do what is in your control. Not bowling no-balls is in your control, so why is that happening? Who takes the responsibility for that - only the bowler, the bowling coach - whoever it is, it has happened many times in three Test matches."

Ravindra Jadeja comes to haunt Marnus Labuschagne again 🤩

And it’s not a no-ball this time 😅

#crickettwitter #india #australia #indvsaus https://t.co/JDWeuyABFl

Gavaskar added that Jadeja needs to focus on rectifying the issue. He highlighted that the no-ball could decide the result of the match as Labuschagne, who could have been dismissed for a duck, forged an excellent partnership with Khawaja thereafter.

"This is not expected from a bowler like Ravindra Jadeja" - Harbhajan Singh

Ravindra Jadeja bowled a no-ball earlier in his spell as well. [P/C: BCCI]

Harbhajan Singh was further asked about his thoughts on Ravindra Jadeja having bowled eight no-balls in the series thus far, to which he responded:

"You probably don't have eight no-balls in a career. This is not expected from a bowler like Ravindra Jadeja and it becomes a bigger cause for concern if you get a wicket on that."

The former Indian spinner highlighted that Australia could have been put under immense pressure had Labuschagne been dismissed at that stage, explaining:

"As Sunny bhai said, Labuschagne would have been dismissed for a duck and because of that a commotion would have been created in that dressing room, that you are 10/2, which means if you had picked up two more wickets at that stage, it would have been 25/4."

No-ball for anyone, especially a spinner, has to be unacceptable. Jadeja is an exceptional cricketer but this is an infection that is taking time to go away

Harbhajan added that it would have been very difficult for Steve Smith and Co. to recover had they lost a couple more wickets at the time. The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by saying that a spinner bowling a no-ball is a crime and that Jadeja doing so is beyond his understanding.