‘Prasidh is a gully-level bowler, Prasidh isn’t fit to play Test cricket, he isn’t good enough to play even the Ranji Trophy, there are better bowlers than him.’ You can add to it many more expletives on social media related to Prasidh Krishna’s bowling which aren’t worth mentioning.
In some ways, fans’ frustrations surrounding Prasidh were understandable. Despite having the potential to bowl wicket-taking deliveries, he lacked consistency to hit the right areas over a spell. Maybe there were inconsistencies in his bowling action, a point noted by Steve Harmison on Talk Sport. In fact, Prasidh did have a conversation with the former quick during the course of the ongoing series in England. He also seemed to have an issue or two while trying to set-up a batter.
Despite certain nuts and bolts missing in his bowling template, he still has one attribute that will serve him for many more years: The ability to extract bounce from a slightly fuller length and the nip-backer. Those salient features of his bowling came to the fore in bowling-friendly conditions at The Oval, as he finished with a four-for. Mohammed Siraj also played his part with a four-wicket haul as the pace duo engineered a collapse to snuff out England for 247 in their first innings.
Early on in his first spell, it felt as if we were witnessing the good-old Prasidh. A few times he squared up Ollie Pope with offerings that left him after pitching to beat the edge, and he also induced inside edges of Zak Crawley’s bat. However, those peaches were juxtaposed by hit-me full deliveries and down-the-leg-side offerings. Here, it has to be noted that for some reason or the other, when Prasidh bowls fuller, it seems to get floaty.
To make matters worse for Prasidh, a catch was dropped by Sai Sudharsan at gully. In the past, his shoulders seemed to drop after a fluffed chance. Perhaps, certain harsh experiences in Test cricket have made him mentally stronger. Whatever it was, Prasidh came roaring back to pick up wickets at regular intervals.
Crawley might have gifted his wicket away to Prasidh, but he followed that up by stitching a few excellent overs to Joe Root, beating him on the outside edge enough times. Just before tea, when Prasidh was reintroduced into the attack, he was rewarded with the scalps of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson.
The wicket of the dangerous Smith, in particular, was impressive as he extracted disconcerting lift to produce the edge. It also has to be observed that Prasidh maintained his speeds over a period of time. To illustrate the point, he was bowling 90mph in his 8th and 9th over. Even in his third spell, his speeds were in the range of 85-87mph.
So, what next for Prasidh? First things first, India would need him to back up his effort with another superlative show in the second innings. Over a long-term basis, he probably has to look at ways to visualise in order to get the better of the opponent. Test cricket isn’t just about bowling jaffas. It is also about having the required bowling smarts to outmanoeuvre the opponent. It is also about building pressure by stringing together dots. For the time being, however, Prasidh is rightly getting the plaudits for a fine exhibition of pace bowling on a lively pitch.
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