New Delhi [India], September 2 : Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna, a member of the new-look Indian set-up led by Shubman Gill, which secured a brilliant 2-2 draw in England during a five-match Test series, admitted that the series "took a lot out of him physically" and took him a week to "shake it off".
While Krishna's series did not start on the brightest note, as he conceded plenty of runs, predominantely due to his short-ball tactics during his first two Tests, things fell in place really beautifully for the Karnataka pacer as in the fifth and final Test at The Oval, he took eight wickets in total, four in both innings, to deliver his first career-defining performance in the longest format of the game. While England were cruising at 301/3 with centurions Harry Brook and Joe Root on a rampage during a run-chase of 374, it was the quick scalps of Brook and Jacob Bethell that brought India back into the hunt. It was his bowling in tandem with Mohammed Siraj that skittled out England at 367 on the final day, and both teams shared the trophy with a scoreline of 2-2, a perfect description of an evenly-fought series.
Now, despite all the physical toll and pain, Krishna is back on his grind after a break. While he is just a reserve player in the Asia Cup squad, Krishna is expected to play home Tests against West Indies and South Africa in October and November, respectively.
The lanky pacer said that he had around a week to ten days off after the series.
"I did take a week to ten days off after the England series," said Prasidh as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I was fortunate that the Mysuru Warriors [his Maharaja Trophy franchise] owner was kind enough to say, 'You go have your time off, and when you are back, you can get back to play'."
"Even when I was on a break after the series - hiking and all that - I could actually feel my body hurting. I was still sore from that last Test at The Oval and the three hard days during the vacation. On the fourth day, I told myself, 'I am not going to do anything'. I let my wife go on her hiking trip. I stayed back for a day, and actually felt my body recover a little bit more," he continued.
Krishna ended the tour with 14 wickets, the fourth-highest by a bowler at an average of 37.07, with best figures of 4/62.
The eight wickets in the final Test were even more satisfying as he had been left out of the fourth Test at Manchester, with team management handing a debut cap to Anshul Kamboj, who failed to make an impact.
"Physically, it took a lot out of me," Prasidh says, looking back to a series which kick-started the captain Shubman Gill era with immense promise.
"It took me about a week to shake it off. Then I came back, played a few games in the Maharaja Trophy. It felt good to go back to my state, be with my teammates, chat with the youngsters, and just get that feeling of being back in cricket again. Once that was over, I got back to training in Bengaluru, started bowling, and we had a few BCCI-mandated fitness tests over the last two days. And now, this morning when I woke up, I felt really good - like, 'Okay, I am ready to go play some more cricket now," he concluded.
During the Maharaja Trophy for his side, Krishna played a total of three fixtures, taking five wickets in total. His team finished at second-last spot, with two wins, six losses and two no-results in 10 matches.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
