India vs South Africa: Sunil Gavaskar Slams Yuzvendra Chahal For Bowling No-Ball In 4th ODI

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar came down heavily on India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for bowling a no-ball during the 4th ODI against South Africa at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Chahal cleaned up South African batsman David Miller only to find out that he has overstepped his mark that turned out to be decisive in the context of the match that India eventually went on to lose by five wickets via DLS method. Miller was batting on 7 when he was bowled by Chahal. Gavaskar questioned Chahal's professionalism in the post-match show and said, "For me, it was that no-ball, where David Miller was clean bowled, and the way he recovered from it. That, for me, was the turning point. Till then, India seemed to be in control, they had also seen the back of AB de Villiers, who was batting well. When Miller was struggling to read Yuzvendra Chahal, India were certainly in the driver's seat.

This no ball....
If chahal had converted this into a wicket
India would have won this match but luck was not with india and chahal.. pic.twitter.com/MKx57YQky2

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17h) February 11, 2018

"So clearly, I think there's little bit of lack of professionalism there. Maybe a little bit of relaxation after the 3-0 situation and the South Africans took full advantage of it. They batted brilliantly after that, Miller batted brilliantly, (Heinrich) Klaasen was outstanding, (Andile) Phehlukwayo came in and smashed it," he added.

Gavaskar feels that in modern-day cricket, with all the technology available, nobody should be bowling no balls.

"I will be perfectly honest. In modern-day cricket, with all the technology available, nobody should be bowling no balls. One can understand bowling a wide, down the leg side because that (wide rule) is a very strict interpretation. There should ideally bowl no wides on the offside also," said the 68-year-old.

"Fast bowlers can sometimes overstep. However, because its 50-over cricket, because there is a free hit after the no ball, I don't think fast-bowlers should also be bowling no-balls. They, after all, use a lot of tapes to measure from here to there (run-up distance) and then how does a no ball come through," he further added.

Heinrich Klaasen and Miller's late counter-attack helped South Africa beat India to keep the series alive. Chasing 290 to win, South Africa were handed a revised target of 202 after overs were lost to stoppage in play due to bad weather.

When the players went off the field, South Africa were 43/1 in 7.2 overs. After play resumed, India dominated the contest, thanks to a double strike by Kuldeep Yadav. When Hardik Pandya got the wicket of AB de Villiers, who looked in ominous form, it appeared as though India were on the verge of a famous series win.

However, a fierce fightback from Klaasen (43*) and Miller (39) especially against India's spin twins, Chahal and Yadav, helped the hosts win comfortably in the end.