Ravichandran Ashwin hails Prasidh Krishna for fine spell in 3rd ODI against South Africa, backs pacer to get better with experience

Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has showered praise on Prasidh Krishna for his impressive spell in the third ODI against South Africa at Vizag on Saturday. Krishna returned with impressive figures of 4-66 in 9.5 overs he bowled.

The lanky pacer conceded 27 runs in the first two overs he bowled but bounced back strongly in his second spell, taking three wickets. Krishna adopted a stump-to-stump line in his second spell and he was able to reap rewards as he plumbed Matthew Breetzke in front of the wickets, whereas he clean-bowled centurion Quinton de Kock.

Meanwhile, Krishna returned with expensive figures of 2-85 in 8.2 overs he bowled in the second game. The Karnataka pacer accounted for Temba Bavuma and Matthew Breetzke but conceded his runs at a high economy rate of 10.20. The fast bowler conceded 48 runs in 7.2 overs he bowled in the opening ODI at Ranchi and picked up one wicket.

“Prasidh will strike. In his first spell, he was short. But he made that correction. He needs to understand that he needs to be full. The mastery of length or line, be it anybody, it takes a lot of repetition. You will only make mistakes and get better. He will need a complete understanding of his own bowling, his run-up, his release point. At this time he has not assimilated everything. But when he does, he will just not be a handful, he will be lethal. Sometimes, he will have bad days. But writing them off does not make any sense. I have seen even the best go for runs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

Ashwin recalled that former Indian lead pacer Zaheer Khan also reduced his jump later on in his career.

“Take an example of Zaheer Khan. He used to jump high when he came in first, but later he stopped jumping that much. Was it a technical input given by somebody? Maybe yes, but one of the largest contributing factor was, Zaheer had played for Worcestershire. He bowled so many overs, gained so much experience and then found the sweet spot. You will start finding it only then. Bowlers will start finding it like that over a period of time. Prasidh has also gone through injuries. These are big setbacks. I really feel happy for him today because he got that success. He deserved that. He is a hard worker and has gone through a lot,” Ashwin added.

Meanwhile, Indian bowlers could not defend despite a target of 359 runs in the second ODI at Raipur. Ashwin defended Indian bowlers after they struggled with the dew.

“As a player who has gone through this situation in dew, I will talk. I remember the high-scoring ODI series against Australia. Adam Voges and all of them scored. I gave 50 runs in nine overs bowling with dew. Many will say you need to develop the skill to bowl in dew but it is almost nearly impossible. Prasidh gives a lot of runs, has ups and downs, but when he gets it right, we know what he is capable of. At least I know. He is still understanding and finding his feet. He is still a brilliant asset,” he said.

India will next take on South Africa in a five-match T20I series, starting Tuesday.