India's spin attack bowled 12 no-balls in Colombo Test: Stats
What's the story
A frustrated Indian unit had to settle for a draw in the second and final Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. While Sonal Dinusha's twin tons headlined Sri Lanka's resilience, the sloppiness of Indian bowlers also came under the scanner. As many as 13 no-balls were bowled by India in Colombo, and 12 of them were by spinners. This is indeed a shocking display of laxity. Here are further details.
Struggles
Saransh Jain: The major culprit
As many as six no-balls were delivered across 89.4 overs in Sri Lanka's first innings.
Three of them were by veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.
Debutant off-spinner Saransh Jain overstepped twice as pacer Mohammed Siraj bowled the other no-ball.
In the third innings, the number went to seven no-balls across 154 overs.
Five of them were by Saransh, while left-arm spinners Manav Suthar and Jadeja erred once.
Unwanted list
India in unwanted territory
As per Cricbuzz, 12 no-balls bowled is the third-most by a spin attack in a Test since 2021.
The only two instances where more no-balls were bowled are Afghanistan's 15 against Bangladesh in Mirpur (2023) and India's own tally of 14 against England in Chennai (2021).
No other spin unit has even delivered 10 no-balls in a Test in this period.
Information
Jadeja erred in the opener as well
India's spin attack bowled five no-balls in India's win in the opening Test in Galle as well. Four of them were by Jadeja, who overstepped twice apiece in his two outings. Suthar was the other culprit.
No-ball leader
Jadeja leads the charts
Jadeja, the world's top Test all-rounder, has been the most frequent spinner to bowl no-balls in the longest format since 2021.
He has bowled a whopping 88 no-balls in this timeline, well ahead of Pakistan's Noman Ali (40) and Sri Lanka's Lasith Embuldeniya (33).
Given the fact that Jadeja is a veteran of 150 First-Class games and 589 wickets, his errors are shocking.
Saransh, who bowled seven no-balls on his Test debut, took 188 wickets across 54 FC games before his maiden India outing.