World T20: India v/s West Indies - Two no balls will haunt Men in Blue for a long time

No balls have often cost a team dear. India paid dearly for this lack of discipline against West Indian batsmen on Thursday, when the two 'lives' the hosts gifted will keep haunting them for a long time.

Only a month and a half ago, Australia's injury-prone James Pattinson overstepped the line when Brendon McCullum was on 39 and gave Mitchell Marsh a catch at gully. Though that did not cost Australia the Test, the retired Kiwi went on to score the fastest Test century ever, in 54 balls, in Christchurch.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin and Hardik Pandya overstepped the crease, handing a rampaging Lendl Simmons two 'lives' on the West Indian's IPL home ground on Thursday night, dashing the hopes of the Indian supporters including those in Kolkata, who were eagerly awaiting MS Dhoni and his team to clash with England in Sunday's final. But, as Simmons' later said, it was his day under the sultry Mumbai sky and in dewy ground conditions.

The timing of Ashwin's and Pandya's no balls proved decisive. That it had to come in the all-important semifinal of a World T20 and to a batsman who is playing his first game of the tournament. Come to think of it this was the 22-year-old Baroda all-rounder's first-ever no ball in international cricket since he broke into the Indian team in January end. And it came in his 16th T20 International after sending down in excess of 260 deliveries. Simmons hit a Pandya no ball-full toss to Ashwin on 50.

Simmons' had got a reprieve a little earlier when on 18, he was caught beautifully by Jasprit Bumrah but was later discovered that Ashwin had overstepped. And, it was Ashwin's first no ball of the tournament, and second of the year in T20 Internationals.

As Dhoni said post-match that no one oversteps deliberately, but it is such mistakes by the bowlers at crucial junctures that lets a team down.

Dhoni was visibly upset about the two no balls. "Frankly, you have to take into account that nobody wants to bowl a no ball but it is just that on tracks like these, when it is so difficult – if you bowl a no ball and get a wicket off that no ball, then there is no one else to blame," he said.

It is often seen in net practices that bowlers care little about overstepping the line. But this Indian team under the bowling coach Bharat Arun, whose contract with the Indian team expired with India's exit from World T20, has meticulously prepared in the nets with stress on not overstepping the line even during practice.

It is often said by former India players that the great all-rounder Kapil Dev did not overstep the popping crease even in practice, let alone in matches through out his 17-year international career.

The two no balls, will continue to hurt the Indian team and the fans but it has been understood that the Indian players, already sulking at the semifinal exit, spoke about it and have been told that such things do happen in cricket and it's time to move on.