Prasidh was punished whenever he went too short in the final day of the first Test. (AP Photo)Prasidh Krishna may have taken five wickets over the course of the two England innings in the first innings at Edgbaston but what ended up making the bigger difference were the runs that the batters scored off mostly when he kept bowling short. While the ploy got him a couple of wickets in the first innings, it was when he bowled full that he started causing problems on the fifth day, in which England chased down a whopping 371 runs comfortably.
The hosts ended up winning the Test by five wickets despite as many as four Indian batters scoring centuries, one of whom scored one in each innings, and Jasprit Bumrah taking a five-wicket haul in the first England essay.
“If I look at the first innings, I was a little too short than where I wanted to be. Second innings it got slightly better, because again, the wicket was slightly slower. I had to pitch a few slightly behind 8, and go slightly fuller, when I am trying to get a wicket,” said Prasidh in a press conference on Saturday as India prepare for the second Test at Edgbaston.
Prasidh ended up with figures of 2/92 in his 15 overs in the second innings. His economy of 6.13 was by far the worst among Indian bowlers. In the first, he had an economy of 6.40, leaking 128 runs in 20 overs. “I definitely did not bowl the lengths that I wanted to. It took me some time to get used to the slope on that side. No reasons, but I should be able to do it as a professional. I take complete responsibility about it, and maybe, do it better next time,” Prasidh said.
Another feature of Day 5 was a number of edges either falling short of the slip fielders or flying through that area when it was vacant. “Every time I come out to bowl, I was definitely looking to bowl a maiden. I am not really trying to give away boundaries or anything. The outfield was fast. The lengths, lines that I bowled was not perfect, to be honest, at most times. And they took me on. Some of them were edges.
“Some of them, I tried bowling bouncers. But I ended up giving runs. But definitely, every time I come out to bowl, I was looking to keep the economy rate down and build the pressure up,” Prasidh said.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
3 min read
