Dinesh Karthik, addressing the poor display by Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur in the first Test, emphasized the need for improvement, highlighting their lack of control and conceding boundary balls.
After India’s defeat in the first Test against South Africa, Dinesh Karthik criticized the seam pair of Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna for their lack of support for Jasprit Bumrah. Karthik highlighted Thakur’s previous decent performance compared to his underwhelming display this time. Expressing concerns, Karthik mentioned the need for improvement, emphasizing Prasidh Krishna’s limited first-class experience, and observing his struggle with control, resulting in conceding several boundary balls during the Test match.
When speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik also stressed that such a lack of control from the young bowlers doesn’t bode well for Test cricket, despite Rohit Sharma’s supportive stance towards their youthful status.
“Shardul and Prasidh definitely need to up their game. Rohit was very kind to them when he said they’re young bowlers. But Shardul was there at the previous series as well. He did pretty well. But this time, it was a very ordinary performance. Prasidh Krishna is young bowler and it shows that he doesn’t have too much first-class experience. He was giving away one too many boundary balls. There wasn’t any control and that’s never a good sign in Test cricket,” Karthik said.
Dinesh Karthik also emphasized India’s notable absence of Mohammed Shami due to injury, highlighting the impact of losing key seamers like Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He pointed out the decline in the current bowling attack’s effectiveness, stressing the trio’s past contributions in maintaining consistent lengths, a key aspect missing from the present bowling setup.
India now aims to level the series in the second Test at Newlands, Cape Town, starting January 3. Having only drawn one Test series in South Africa in 2010 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy, India has yet to secure a series win in nine attempts.
Last Updated on December 30, 2023
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