Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan has showered praise on Prasidh Krishna for his consistent performances in ODIs. Pathan highlighted that Krishna has gone wicketless in only three games out of 23 innings.
Krishna has scalped 40 wickets in 23 ODI matches at an average of 27.55. The lanky pacer from Karnataka has bowled with an economy rate of 6.03. Krishna returned with figures of 2-60 in nine overs he bowled against New Zealand in the opening ODI at Vadodara whereas he bagged 1-49 in nine overs in the second ODI at Rajkot.
Arshdeep Singh replaced Krishna in the third ODI at Indore against the Kiwis. Pathan said Krishna has wicket-taking ability even though he can be a bit expensive.
Irfan Pathan said on Robin Uthappa’s YouTube Channel, “His (Prasidh Krishna) wicket-taking ability, I think, is talked about a bit less because he gives away runs and his economy is slightly over six. But his wicket-taking ability is solid. I think he’s gone wicketless only three times in 23 innings, which is fantastic. That means in 20 out of 23 innings, he takes wickets and never goes empty-handed. There is something there. Height, pace, he can bowl at 140 kph, and after his injury he has spent a lot of time understanding the white ball better. That is why his IPL was good as well.”
“If you become the highest wicket-taker or among the top wicket-takers, that means you have done something consistently well over a period of two months. Then you see him in ODI cricket as well. In Test cricket, obviously, he has done well. We saw that in the England series. One thing was that initially he bowled a bit too short.” he continued.
The former swing bowler added that Krishna consistently hits the blockhole and looks for ways to take wickets.
“But one thing I really like is that in his second and third spells, he comes in and bowls yorkers. It is not like the yorkers are just falling out. He is actually executing them. That means he is trying to take wickets in different areas, using his height and yorkers. There is potential. You do not find many fast bowlers who are over six feet tall and bowl at 140 kph. When you do, you back them. That is why he is being backed.”
On the other hand, Pathan reckons Mohammed Siraj needs regular game time in ODIs. Siraj bagged 1-43 in his quota of 10 overs against New Zealand and was the pick of the Indian bowlers. The fast bowler made a comeback to ODI cricket after a long time.
“You also need to keep an eye on Mohammed Siraj, where he bowls regularly with the new ball and then obviously gets the old ball, which was a concern earlier that he wasn’t as effective with it. In the second ODI against New Zealand, he didn’t get wickets with the old ball, but I felt he used that slight tailwind properly. There was an LBW appeal, an inside edge while Daryl Mitchell was batting. So I think he’s doing whatever he can as a bowler to get back to where he was in 2022-23, when he was the number one bowler, Siraj. I think he needs regular ODI game time, at least for some time now.”
India suffered a 41-run loss in the third ODI against the Kiwis.
