By News18
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has said that if he were in the Indian team management, he would have given Prasidh Krishna as much game time as possible because when he got his lengths right, he bowled brilliant wicket-taking balls and hence, is a crucial part of that pace battery.
Krishna finished with an economy of over six runs per over across both innings as the England batters made the most of his inconsistency.
When Krishna found the right length, he was tough to deal with. Ashwin requested the team management to play the former in as many games as possible and to groom him for the lead pacer鈥檚 role in ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah鈥檚 absence in the future as part of workload management.
鈥淚 would give Prasidh Krishna games, because when he got it right, he delivered lethal wicket-taking deliveries. I think Prasidh is one for the future. If Bumrah is not going to be playing all matches, he can step up to play that role,鈥 Ashwin said while speaking on his YouTube channel.
鈥淚f we are playing a seamer in place of Bumrah, I would think of Arshdeep and bring a left-arm option. Nevertheless, let us not forget what Akash Deep has done; he can bowl well with the red ball, while Arshdeep is not a proven commodity yet,鈥 Ashwin said.
鈥淥nly debatable topic is Karun Nair-Sai Sudharsan/Nitish Kumar Reddy. How many overs will the fourth seamer give? How good is Reddy鈥檚 batting form? I know for a fact that the Indian team management rates Nitish Kumar Reddy very highly,鈥 Ashwin added.
Arshdeep is yet to play a Test, but he has notable experience playing County Cricket for Kent in recent years.
The question mark ahead of the Edgbaston Test is over Bumrah鈥檚 availability. If he does not play the second of his decided quota of three Tests, the pace line-up is expected to be Mohammed Siraj, Akash and Krishna.
With Bumrah hard to handle at the other end, the pacers didn鈥檛 have the required consistency in their lengths to test England batters.