Prasidh Krishna is bang-average. He is not Test-class. The sooner it dawns on the national selectors and the Indian team management, the better. The fast bowler made his Test debut in December 2023, against South Africa at Centurion. On a green pitch, he gave away 93 runs in 20 overs for a wicket. His bowling profligacy, along with Shardul Thakur’s, was a reason why the hosts got to 408 in their first innings and inflicted an innings defeat on India.
In the second Test in Cape Town, on an even greener surface, where Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj had shared 15 wickets between them, Prasidh returned with an economy rate of 6.75 in South Africa’s second innings. India, though, won the Test and levelled the series.
Earlier this year, against Australia in Sydney, he once again leaked runs for fun, as the hosts chased 162 for victory on the spiciest pitch of the series. The three wickets he took eventually proved to be inconsequential, for he never put the opposition under pressure.
Once again, Prasidh was the weak link in India’s bowling in the ongoing Test against England in Leeds. The hosts finished Day 2 on 209/3, and all three wickets (3/48) went to Bumrah. Between Prasidh and Siraj, 106 runs were conceded in 24 overs without a wicket. Prasidh’s figures read: 10-0-56-0.
In Australia, Bumrah had carried India on his back before his back gave in. Looks like the series against England is going to follow the same pattern. For so long, the great fast bowler had Mohammed Shami for company. The latter's Test career appears to be all but over and Bumrah now plays the lone ranger. He is unlikely to play more than three Tests in this series. Without him, India's bowling would be pedestrian.
“We have got enough talent there (in the pace-bowling department),” Gautam Gambhir had said at the pre-departure press conference. “I know that he (Bumrah) is quality, but we have got enough quality apart from him as well in the squad.”
As stumps were drawn on Day 2 of the first Test, the head coach's comment sounded like a joke. It is very likely that deep down Gambhir, too, knows the reality. He bigged the other bowlers up because he couldn't talk them down.
The delivery that Bumrah bowled to dismiss Zak Crawley would be a contender for the ball of the series. He bowled another one of that type to Ben Duckett after Tea. But the England opener wasn't good enough to nick it despite getting past his half-century by then. Pretty soon, Duckett would be castled and Joe Root would edge one at slip. Bumrah got the better of Harry Brook in the final over of the day as well. But carrying the entire load of India’s bowling, he stretched himself and overstepped by a fraction.
At the other end, Siraj conceded 23 runs in three overs in his first spell in conditions beautifully suited to seam bowling. He bowled better in his second and third spells from the other end, but the consistency was missing.
Poor fieldingIndia's fielding was a massive let-down and denied Bumrah a couple of wickets. Ravindra Jadeja, of all people, dropped a fairly regulation catch at backward point to give Duckett a reprieve when the batsman was on 15. Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Ollie Pope on 60 and Bumrah looked helpless. Pope went on to score an unbeaten century. Misfields galore added to the misery.
The BCCI sacked T Dilip, India's fielding coach, after the Champions Trophy before reinstating him. The team deserves better. As regards fast bowling, beyond Bumrah the cupboard looks bare.
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