Indian veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik was disappointed with the performance of Indian pacers Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion. Throughout South Africa’s innings, Prasidh and Thakur leaked runs and failed to make an impact for the team in bowling-friendly conditions.
Despite the efforts of Bumrah and Ashwin, India was unable to limit the runs as the Prasidh-Siraj-Thakur combination did not perform well. Without Mohammed Shami, India gave Prasidh Krishna his debut. While the lanky fast bowler possesses all the qualities to succeed at the Test level, he could not utilize the conditions in Centurion.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik believes that Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna need to improve their game plan for the next game. He also added that Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is being kind to them and supporting them despite their poor performance and also mentioned that the Indian team missed Mohammed Shami’s presence in the match.
“Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna definitely need to up their game. Rohit Sharma is being very kind to them when he is saying that it is the first time for the bowlers and they are young bowlers, but Shardul was there on the previous tour as well and did pretty well. Today was a very ordinary performance from Shardul Thakur with the bat and the ball.”
“India prides itself in the last few years on how good the bowling attack is. But you could see that without Mohammed Shami there, this Indian attack is not what it used to be. Before, we had Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They gave us at least consistency in length, and that was missing in a big way today as well,” Dinesh Karthik said
On Day 2, Rohit Sharma made defensive bowling changes, keeping Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna after lunch. The Dean Elgar-led side found runs easily, and Sharma’s field placements were not effective. The Men In Blue failed once again on Day 3 and did not appear to be mentally prepared at any point during the game.
I Do Think Prasidh Krishna Makes Way For Mukesh Kumar – Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik feels that the Indian think tank might replace Praisdh Krishna with right-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar in the 2nd test in Cape Town. He emphasized Mukesh’s expertise as a bowler would come in handy, who has played a lot of domestic cricket.
“I do think Prasidh Krishna makes way for Mukesh Kumar. You get the feeling that they need a little more experience. Not that Mukesh Kumar has played a lot of international cricket, be he has played a lot of first-class cricket,” Dinesh Karthik added.
During India’s tour of South Africa, Mukesh Kumar played in every white-ball match. He had a solid T20I series, taking three wickets, and was also at his best defensively in the ODI series. With his great line and length, he can put the batters to the test by probing in a specific zone which can be crucial for the team’s success in the next test.
