Former Indian wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia feels Prasidh Krishna can be an excellent bowler on South African wickets. Krishna is well known to extract extra bounce because of his height and he can be really handful on South African pitches, which are helpful for fast bowlers.
The South African also assist extra bounce and thus Krishna will be licking his lips on the upcoming tour. Krishna is named in India’s squad for two-match Test series against the Proteas.
Meanwhile, Krishna had scalped four wickets in three T20I matches against Australia at an average of 39.75. The lanky pacer also could not defend 21 runs in the final over in the third T20I while bowling against Glenn Maxwell. The Karnataka pacer conceded his runs at a high economy rate of 13.25 and thus he will look to turn the tables in South Africa.
“I am happy for Prasidh Krishna. He is a longer-format bowler. With the sort of pace he has and the bounce he gets, he can be an excellent bowler on South African wickets. I am a big fan of Prasidh Krishna, especially in Test cricket,” said Mongia while speaking to Star Sports.
Mongia reckons Krishna can be groomed properly in the company of experienced fast bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
“It’s good he has been given an opportunity. He can be groomed properly under Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj. If he gets a chance, he shouldn’t waste it. You won’t get a better opportunity than this. You will get to bowl against South Africa in South Africa. You won’t get better wickets than that,” Mongia added.
The first Test match between India and South Africa will be played at SuperSport Park, Centurion from December 26.
India Test Squad for South Africa Tour
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (WK), KL Rahul (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.