Ravi Bishnoi Creates Unwanted T20I Record After Bowling Three No-Balls Against England

That sinking feeling. It’s one every single person who has ever bowled a cricket ball knows instantly. Your foot slips, you hear the umpire clicking the counter, and you wish the earth would open up and swallow you. But when you’re a spinner at Old Trafford under the lights, that mistake is magnified a million times over.

It was a harsh lesson for Ravi Bishnoi in the shortest format of the game after a rough evening in Manchester.

The Unwritten Rule of Twirling

Cricket gives fast bowlers a bit of a pass for overstepping. They're coming in at full tilt, pushing their bodies to the very limit. But for a twirl? It is usually considered a cardinal sin to bowl a no-ball. You have a short, controlled run-up, so you have all the time in the world to measure your stride and know exactly where your foot is landing.

When a spinner begins to overspin, it is almost always a sign that they have completely lost their rhythm or that the pressure is beginning to get to them.

The Game Changer of All Time

Bishnoi couldn’t have picked a worse time to be caught up in India’s struggle. Things were getting very tight and tense in defending their total. England needed 49 off the last 24 balls – a tough ask, but entirely possible in T20 cricket. It was at this point that the captain handed the ball to Bishnoi for the 17th over, hoping for a tight, defensive six balls.

Instead, the wheels spectacularly came off:

Unwanted Record: Bishnoi lost his landing point completely, overstepping three times in the same game. That’s a stat no spinner wants next to their name, becoming the first slow bowler in T20 International history to give up three no-balls in one match.

The Deadly Price of Free Hits: In modern T20s a no-ball doesn’t just cost you a run; it gives the batter a “free hit". For a world-class power hitter, a free hit is essentially a green light to swing for the parking lot without fear of striking out. The England batters capitalised on it, sending the ball over the ropes.

The 29-Run Over: Bishnoi took ages to get through six legal deliveries, and he leaked a whopping 29 runs. And with that England sealed the game with a full over to spare, a tight chase turning into a casual stroll.
 
Bishnoi walked off the pitch with painful final figures of 0/60 from his 4 overs. The most painful thing is Axar Patel, his spin partner, bowled on the same surface, squeezing the batters and keeping things tight. Bishnoi just bowled a bit too flat and fast, trying to force the ball through rather than letting it do the work, which suited England down to the ground.

The saving grace here is that Cricket moves very fast, and his captain Shreyas Iyer immediately jumped to his defence after the match. Iyer admitted the 17th over was the turning point that “haunted” their defence but refused to point fingers or blame his young bowler.

A stray run-up is an annoying tactical hiccup, but it is something that can be fixed. India has too many scalps to their name for one messy over to write them off. Bishnoi wins. “He’ll get a chance to clear his head, change his stride at training and try and wipe the slate clean for the next game.”