Former Team India bowler slams team management’s decision to include Prasidh Krishna in first Test against South Africa

Prasidh Krishna’s Test debut against South Africa should be forgotten by him in an instant. He lacked the fundamental self-discipline required to bowl in a Test match and was irrational and idealess. His subpar performance was, in many ways, the primary reason why, once Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj had been withdrawn from the attack, India was unable to exert any kind of pressure on the South African batsmen. 

Following the humbling defeat in Centurion by an innings and 32 runs, captain Rohit Sharma declared that they will support the young right-arm bowler. However, the quick call-up of Avesh Khan for the Indian team’s second game in Cape Town suggests that Prasidh would probably be left out of the starting eleven.

Avesh participated in the second unofficial game between South Africa A and India A. He managed to capture five wickets in the first innings of the match. The Team India management decided to play Prasidh instead of Mukesh Kumar due to expectations of success on South African surfaces due to the bowlers’ height. Bowlers who can get more bounce off the surface have historically performed well there. But Prasidh never looked in control and the South African batters profited from it.

“Just one India A game isn’t enough” : Former Team India bowler

Former Team India bowler told PTI as he said, “Poor Prasidh… The kid isn’t ready for Test cricket. He doesn’t have skills to bowl second and third spells yet. They went with him based on his ability to hit the deck. But they forgot when has he last played a proper season of Ranji Trophy? Just one India A game isn’t enough.”

The former Team India bowler spoke about how Avesh might be slightly better than Avesh Khan. He said, “Avesh is same type of bowler like Prasidh but plays red ball cricket more regularly. So he might hit better lengths. Navdeep Saini is still playing India A for six years. That tells you the story.”