Team India captain Rohit Sharma backed Prasidh Krishna after the bowler struggled in his Test debut against South Africa on Boxing Day in Centurion.
Rohit acknowledged the lanky fast bowler’s inexperience but said that he had the talent to play at the highest level.
With Mohammed Shami pulled out of the Test series owing to a heel injury, India had to replace him with either Prasidh or Mukesh Kumar.
They chose the former option, which backfired. Prasidh Krishna seemed absolutely out of place in his first Test, taking 1/93 from 20 overs.
India went on to lose the Centurion Test by an innings and 32 runs, succumbing in their second innings to 131 in 34.1 overs.
Rohit refrained from being unduly harsh of Prasidh Krishna in a post-match press conference
“Of course, he’s inexperienced, but he’s got the tools to come out here and play the game. Some of the bowlers we have back in India are injured, while others are unavailable.”
“So we attempt to choose the players that are available, and we look at the circumstances and try to pick the bowlers based on that.”
The 36-year-old stated that more than experience, how you feel in your head is important.
“It is more crucial how you treat your head and how you wish to play the game. “It’s not going to help if you keep thinking, ‘Oh, I haven’t played a lot of Test matches, I haven’t played a lot of first-class games,'” he added.”
With statistics of 4/69, Jasprit Bumrah was India’s top bowler in Centurion. Shardul Thakur, like Prasidh, struggled, with figures of 1/101 from 19 overs.
Rohit on Prasidh: He’s played a lot of white-ball cricket for us
While commenting on Prasidh’s disappointing performance in the Centurion Test, Rohit stated that the fast bowler had recently played a lot of white-ball cricket for India. He also lauded the 27-year-old’s mentality and stated that he had great potential.
“Over the last two or three years, he has played a lot of white-ball cricket for us and has shown a lot of potential.”
His first game did not go well, but “we were all nervous when we played our first game,” he remarked.
“These things happen, but the player has the game to flourish in this style. So we’re going to back him because he has a lot of talent and a terrific mentality about his game,” Rohit said.”
Prasidh has played 17 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for India, taking 29 and eight wickets, respectively.