MUMBAI: As they discovered during the Leeds Test, Indian bowlers have their task cut out in this England series. For an inexperienced line-up, they faced some of the toughest conditions to bowl. Tailor-made for a fourth innings chase to aid England’s Bazball gameplan, there was no margin for error on a benign Headingley pitch.
Pacer Prasidh Krishna was one of the worst sufferers. The trick on such a surface is to figure out the perfect length to keep the batter in check. The Karnataka bowler was clueless, as were the other Indian bowlers, apart from Jasprit Bumrah. Prasidh leaked more than 200 runs in the series opener, which India lost by five wickets.
In the first innings, Prasidh gave away 128 runs in 20 overs at an economy of 6.40, one of the worst figures by an Indian bowling a minimum of 20 overs in an innings. He picked up the wickets of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith, but failed to make the required impact. In the second innings, Prasidh’s economy rate was again over six (6.10), conceding 92 runs in 15 overs.
Ahead of the second Test, Prasidh has taken full responsibility for his inability to consistently bowl the right lengths during the series opener.
“In the first innings, I was a little too short than where I wanted to be, 6-8 (feet from the batting crease) is ideal. 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.
“I definitely did not bowl the lengths 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 full responsibility for it. Maybe, I’ll do it better the next time,” he told a media conference.
“Every time I came 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 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. Definitely, every time I came out to bowl, I was looking to keep the economy rate down and build the pressure,” said Prasidh, adding that the pacers also struggled to cope with the strong wind.
With India likely to rest spearhead Bumrah for the second Test at Edgbaston to manage his workload, the pressure on the rest of the attack will mount. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh, Shardul Thakur as well as Ravindra Jadeja failed to deliver at Headingley, and can’t afford a repeat in the Edgbaston game starting on July 2.
Prasidh is determined to learn from the experience. “One thing you cannot get is experience, that you have to do it yourself and all of us are excited, if you look at the team.
“It’s my responsibility to get better and that’s what I am trying, that’s what I am working on. I just want to make sure I put in the right kind of work come back here and put up better numbers.”
