Prasidh Krishna in IND vs SL Tests. image Credits: AFP
The fast bowlers from both teams have had a limited role in the series. They have bowled only 29.41% of the overs and accounted for 39.28% of the wickets, a figure that could have been even lower had Sri Lanka’s spinners been more consistent. Most fast-bowling spells have lasted three overs, occasionally stretching to four or five.
Against that backdrop, it was fitting that Prasidh Krishna, arguably the most impressive fast bowler from either side, managed longer spells than any other pacer. His longest spell, the first of the second Test, lasted seven overs, but was split across two days. He returned later for another six-over spell with a semi-old ball, the second-longest spell by any pacer in the series.
It was another indication of how good Krishna has been and how his attributes can often take the pitch out of the equation. High pace and climbing lengths have always been among his strongest suits. What he has added is a better understanding of the situation and the ability to evolve quickly with each surface, despite being fairly young at this level.
The Prasidh Krishna differentiator
Prasidh Krishna has been impressive in Sri Lanka
Prasidh Krishna is the second-leading wicket-taker among the pacers in the series, with six scalps. Only Asitha Fernando, with 10, has taken more. However, Krishna has not had as many opportunities to add to his tally, with Manav Suthar and Ravindra Jadeja bowling the bulk of the overs and taking most of the wickets.
Krishna has bowled just 38 overs, 17.3 fewer than Asitha, yet his average of 18.33 is the best among all the pacers. That makes him the best fast bowler of the series. More importantly, the numbers are backed up by the skills he has displayed.
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It was only his second delivery of the game when Krishna angled one in before getting it to straighten from the back-of-a-length zone.
At pace, the ball climbed off the surface and squared up Lahiru Udara, while the angle left him with little choice but to play at it. He could only manage an outside edge and had to depart, despite doing little wrong, particularly in the gloomy conditions.
“Yeah, I think there’s something in the pitch, of course. Maybe stopped a little bit. There was a bit of seam, and I think credit goes to Jaiswal for the catch that he took. It was an exceptional one. We have been putting in some effort on the field in practice, so I think it just paid off,” Prasidh Krishna explained after Udara’s dismissal.
The bounce Krishna generates will naturally be higher than that of most pacers, given his height and high-arm release.
But it’s his ability to move the ball at pace from a slightly shorter length that gives him an added edge. Lahiru Udara might have survived had the ball arrived slower; equally, it may not have carried to the third-slip fielder.
The around-the-wicket angle to LHBs
Prasidh Krishna has found ample success from around the wicket to LHBs
Five of Prasidh Krishna’s six wickets in Sri Lanka have come against left-handers. Against them, he averages just 11.20 and induces false shots off around 24.10% of deliveries, compared to 18.10% against right-handers.
His effectiveness against left-handers was evident in Galle. When Sri Lanka were gaining momentum through a big partnership between Sonal Dinusha and Niroshan Dickwella, India turned to Krishna to break the stand.
He did so almost immediately. In the third over of his spell, he angled the old ball away from Dickwella, who went chasing a loose drive and departed after a 146-run partnership.
Krishna dismissed Dickwella again in the second innings, this time with a slightly shorter length and a straighter line. The recurring theme, though, has been his use of the angle from around the wicket. It is an angle that has brought him considerable success against left-handers throughout his relatively short career.
From around the wicket, Prasidh Krishna has bowled 83.03% of his deliveries, taking three wickets at 14.67 apiece. He has also induced false shots off 22.58% of those deliveries, despite operating from that angle far more frequently.
That angle again became central on Day 3 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Krishna initially bowled over the wicket to Kamil Mishara, who covered the line comfortably on both occasions.
Krishna immediately switched to around the wicket, and the change produced false shots straight away. In the eighth over, he first beat Mishara’s outside edge before, off the very next ball, striking his forearm with sheer pace from a slightly shorter length.
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The wicket arrived five balls later, and it was a classic Prasidh Krishna dismissal. A back-of-a-length delivery climbed sharply after pitching, leaving Mishara in an awkward position as he could only glove it through to the wicketkeeper.
When another partnership between Pasindu Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis began to take shape, Shubman Gill turned to Krishna again for his second spell of the day.
He needed only six balls to remove Kamindu, unsurprisingly through another shorter delivery. With the spinners struggling to make the same impact, Krishna once again gave India the breakthrough they needed and ensured they went into Lunch ahead.
Prasidh Krishna continues to evolve as a Test pacer
Prasidh Krishna is still only nine Tests into his career. He has a long way to go and continues to make mistakes, but what is improving is his ability to use his skills wisely and adapt to what the situation demands.
It’s not easy to be Krishna. Of his nine Tests, eight have come away from home, taking him from Australia and South Africa to England and Sri Lanka. Despite that exposure to vastly different conditions, his returns remain encouraging: 28 wickets at an average of 30.92.
He does not always stick to his natural lengths. Instead, Prasidh Krishna has shown an increasing willingness to go fuller when required.
When the conditions demanded it in Mullanpur, he pitched up and got one to seam late into Sediqullah Atal, crashing into his stumps. At The Oval last year, he produced another surprise - an inswinging yorker to Josh Tongue.
“Natural length was something that I could say when I was not playing for the country, but when I'm here I need to be bowling every length that the team wants, and I'm trying to do that,” Krishna said before Day 3 in Colombo.
These are still early signs, but Prasidh Krishna is evolving nicely, with his understanding of situations improving with each outing. Perhaps that early exposure to varied conditions has helped accelerate his development. His spell in Colombo was simply another chapter in that evolution.
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