Benched for two games, Prasidh returns with a vengeance in 5th Test

London: After Prasidh Krishna conceded 128 and 92 runs at an economy a little over six runs an over in the opening Test at Headingley, he was unjustly vilified for just following the team’s orders. The pacer was doing exactly what captain Shubman Gill wanted him to do — bowl short consistently — but the strategy came unfounded as England batters were able to take full advantage of it because of a docile pitch.

Prasidh was asked to replicate the same in the first innings of the second Test at Edgbaston, and yet again, thanks to the docile nature of the track and England batters’ natural ability to deal better with the shorter stuff, the plan backfired. The Karnataka pacer, who arrived in England on the back of a terrific performance in the IPL where he bagged the Purple Cap for the most wickets (25), went for 72 runs in 13 overs, and the criticism continued. Some, not aware that the 6’2’’ Karnataka pacer was just following the captain’s orders, questioned his pedigree for Test cricket. Prasidh knew the plan was not working for him, but he chose to take one for the team.

Skipper Shubman Gill, having realised his mistake, gave Prasidh the freedom to bowl his natural lines and lengths and the 29-year-old did admirably well in the second innings, holding things up beautifully by conceding just 39 runs in 14 overs. He showed what a talent he is, once rated so highly by former skipper Virat Kohli but whose career could never take off to its promised potential because of persistent injuries. However, sparkling performances from Mohammed Siraj (7 wickets) and Akash Deep (10), who came in for Jasprit Bumrah, in Birmingham saw Prasidh being benched for the next two games. He was made to pay for no fault of his.

While the management’s hands were tied at Lord’s because Bumrah returned after being rested at Edgbaston and they couldn’t drop Akash based on his heroics, the decision to hand Anshul Kamboj a debut at Old Trafford when the latter was ruled out injured due to a groin problem instead of picking the experienced Prasidh proved how unfairly the Karnataka pacer was treated. As fate would have it, Kamboj fumbled from a bout of nerves in Manchester, opening the door once again for Prasidh in the series finale at The Oval.

At the start of England’s innings, Prasidh faltered like the rest of his bowling colleagues — Siraj and Akash. But following a pep talk amongst them, Prasidh came out all guns blazing in the second session, bagging 4/62 to produce his career best performance in just his sixth Test. The spell had plenty of balls Prasidh has been known for on the domestic circuit — balls taking off from a little off the good length area that confuses the batter into playing the pull shot but only to mistime it. He also showed his new weapons in the armoury, the full length one — both in and out swing. Prasidh also threw in a rarely seen aggressive side of his, indulging in a bit of sledging to rankle former England captain Joe Root.

Prasidh said missing the previous two games enabled him to iron out the flaws and was geared to hit the high notes at The Oval. “I think I've been picked here because I can do the job the team asked me to do. I'm definitely being backed by the dressing room. Me not playing the next two games also enables me to go back to the drawing board and do what I've been doing in a better way. If I can bowl the lengths better than what I did, if every part of my skill increases by 5% or 10% when I'm not playing, I'm happy to do that.

“Every time I come out on the field, I’m here to do the job for the team, and if it means that they ask me to do a certain thing and I get criticism from the outside, it's totally okay because, especially criticism and praise, are very dependent on performance, and for me in life, it's not about the performance, it's about the process that you follow when you want to play for the country.”

Prasidh will be hoping to make an even bigger impact in the second innings.