Prasidh Krishna scalped 14 wickets in the series.
The world is lauding Mohammed Siraj. And why not? For the monumental efforts that he put in, Siraj deserves every word of praise. But there was another speedster in the Indian bowling line-up, who kept improving. He didn’t start the series on the best note, but made sure that he ended it magnificently. Prasidh Krishna bagged a four-wicket haul in the second innings of the fifth Test at The Oval. Though he scalped just one wicket on the match-deciding morning of Day 5, it was a very important wicket. England were eight wickets down, and another wicket would have made Chris Woakes come out to bat. Krishna bowled an immaculate yorker to skittle Josh Tongue.
But the beautiful toe-crusher had a back story. The incident occurred on the last ball of the 83rd over of the fourth innings. Gus Atkinson took a single on the fourth ball of the over, handing the strike to Tongue, who isn’t the best with the bat in hand. He defended the fifth ball successfully after which things got interesting. Prasidh Krishna removed a fielder from the slips and pushed him back towards the third-man boundary. As a result, England’s No.10 was left thinking that a bouncer might be on its way. But what followed was a toe-crushing yorker. India scalped their ninth wicket and Woakes had to come out to bat.
Watch the video, in which Krishna is clearly asking the fielder to drop back to the third-man boundary indicating that he would go for a bouncer. Siraj dismissed Zak Crawley in the same manner in the dying moments of Day 3.
The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy did not start on the best note for the 29-year-old pacer. But it was a series in which he grew as a bowler. At least, that is what the stats tell us. Krishna played in three Test matches out of five. After he featured in the first two Tests, he was dropped for the next two. The main reason for this decision was his lack of control. Krishna’s economy in the first Test was 6.28, which is too high for a bowler in the longest format of the game. In the second Test at Edgbaston, his economy decreased, but the wickets came down too. He picked just a solitary wicket in the second Test, but India won the game.
However, in his Test appearance of the tour, Krishna was different gravy. He knocked over four wickets in both the innings and played an instrumental role in India’s victory at The Oval. He sent back Ben Duckett after a well-made 54 to start India’s fightback. However his best wicket was in the form of Joe Root, who was well-set and batting on a 105. The Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer topped it off with his brilliant yorker to Tongue on Day 5. He assisted Mohammed Siraj on the final day of the series and did not give anything away to the English batters.
What Krishna will have to improve upon, is the control. He is often known to leak runs, due to which his fellow bowlers are not able to build pressure from the other end. He was benched after the first two Tests because of the same reason. Krishna’s height and pace could be a great advantage for India, especially when they play on foreign soil. But the fast-bowler will have to make sure that he can control his line and lengths enough to create an impact.
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