India’s chances of bouncing back in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy now depend mainly on their pace attack. After a disheartening defeat at Headingley, where England chased down 371 to lead 1-0, fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has spoken out about his performance and areas for improvement ahead of the second Test.
Krishna, who earned his berth in the playing XI following a successful IPL season in which he won the Purple Cap, was chastised despite taking five wickets in the match. While he was able to dismiss Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith in the first innings and Zak Crawley and Pope again in the second, his total economy of 6.28 drew attention.
His numbers of 128 runs in 20 overs, followed by 92 in 15, established an unwelcome record, making Krishna the first bowler in Test history to lose more than 90 runs in both innings of a match at an economy rate greater than six. His costly spell has only been matched by three bowlers in terms of economy rate when conceding more than 200 runs in a match. Krishna accepted responsibility for his performance.
“Every time I come into bowl, I’m definitely looking to bowl a maiden and I’m not really trying to give away boundaries or anything,” he told.
“The outfield [at Headingley] was fast, and the lengths and lines I bowled were not always ideal, but they challenged me. Some of them were edges, others I attempted bowling bouncers on, and I wound up giving runs.
“So I think somebody in the team had to do it, and if I sit back and say, ‘I want to look at my numbers, what my economy is,’ and not really look at the wickets, it cost me a 4 and a 6, and then Jamie Smith got out, so if it means that I do that and get a wicket, I’m happy to do it, but definitely every time I come on to the bowl, I am looking to keep the economy down and build the pressure up,” said the Australian opener.
Was somewhat shorter than where I planned to be: Prasidh Krishna
Krishna also admitted to bowling short, with 104 of his 211 deliveries falling short of a reasonable length, much above the optimal 6-8 metre range at a stadium such as Headingley. While that length netted him three wickets, it also cost him runs at a 7.54 economy rate.
“No, I believe that in the first innings, I was a little shorter than I should have been; 6 to 8 [metres] is ideal. Yes, that is what I would say. I believe the second innings improved marginally since the wicket was slower. “I had to pitch a few slightly behind it and then slightly fuller when I was trying to get a wicket,” Krishna explained.
“So, obviously, I didn’t bowl the lengths I wanted. Yeah, I think so… not wanting to float it up there is definitely one of the reasons, and it honestly took me some time to get used to the slope, so, yeah, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do it as a professional, but I accept full responsibility for it, and maybe I’ll do it better next time,” he said.
With Jasprit Bumrah going to miss at least two of the final four Tests due to workload management, Krishna will have to take on greater responsibility and ensure that he delivers on his promises.
“Our culture emphasises mutual learning. Bumrah is still around to guide us… yet experience can only be gained by action. The culture that we’ve established is one in which we all learn from one another, regardless of who is present. He [Bumrah] has been communicating to all of us, even before we came here. At least for me, I’ve been on this team for a few years now, so the discussions are still ongoing.
“One thing you cannot receive is experience; you must do it yourself, and I believe all of us are excited. If you look at the team, everyone is here; Siraj has played a lot of games and will continue to play, and then whoever comes in or whatever happens later, it’s a tremendous experience and an opportunity for us to be here,” he said.
