Indian pacer Prasidh Krishna has set an unwanted record during the ongoing first Test against England at Headingley, Leeds.
Prasidh Krishna‘s spell of 3/128 came at an economy rate of 6.40, the worst for any Indian bowler who has bowled a minimum of 120 balls or 20 overs in a spell. He surpassed Varun Aaron’s previous record, who had gone for runs at an economy rate of 5.91 against Australia in Adelaide in 2014. Aaron had recorded 2/136 from 23 overs.
In his 20 overs, Prasidh Krishna took the wickets of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith. However, he was also on the receiving end of some brutal hitting from the England batters. Coming to his overall numbers, Prasidh Krishna now owns 11 wickets at 33.18 across four Tests. His economy of 4.87 is certainly on the higher side. Notably, Prasidh Krishna piped the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, and Harshit Rana for a spot in India’s XI.
Prasidh Krishna’s not so promising test career
Prasidh Krishna is bang-average. He is not Test-class. The sooner it dawns on the national selectors and the Indian team management, the better. The fast bowler made his Test debut in December 2023, against South Africa at Centurion. On a green pitch, Prasidh Krishna gave away 93 runs in 20 overs for a wicket. His bowling profligacy, along with Shardul Thakur’s, was a reason why the hosts got to 408 in their first innings and inflicted an innings defeat on India.
In the second Test in Cape Town, on an even greener surface, where Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj had shared 15 wickets between them, Prasidh Krishna returned with an economy rate of 6.75 in South Africa’s second innings. India, though, won the Test and levelled the series.Earlier this year, against Australia in Sydney, he once again leaked runs for fun, as the hosts chased 162 for victory on the spiciest pitch of the series. The three wickets he took eventually proved to be inconsequential, for he never put the opposition under pressure.
Once again, Prasidh Krishna was the weak link in India’s bowling in the ongoing Test against England in Leeds. The hosts finished Day 2 on 209/3, and all three wickets (3/48) went to Bumrah. Between Prasidh Krishna and Siraj, 106 runs were conceded in 24 overs without a wicket. Prasidh’s figures read: 10-0-56-0.
Prasidh Krishna eventually picked up 3 wickets but for that leaked 128 runs at the economy of 6.40 the worst one in the history for Indian bowlers. Even after his worst performance the lanky tall pacer received support from Former Indian batter now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar who defended the performance made by Prasidh Krishna
Sanjay Manjrekar defends Prasidh Krishna’s worst economy rate vs England
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has defended Prasidh Krishna despite his costly economy rate following his fightback with the ball on Day 3 of the first Test against England in Leeds on Sunday, June 22. The cricketer-turned-commentator stressed that Krishna was way better than Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur. The remarks came as Krishna finished with figures of 3/128 (20) in the first innings after resuming his bowling at 0/51 (9) on the third day of the Test match.
Prasidh Krishna began the day with the crucial wicket of Ollie Pope (106 off 137) before removing dangerous-looking Harry Brook and Jamie Smith for 99 (112) and 40 (52), respectively.
Sanjay Manjrekar told JioHotstar (via NDTV):
“If you see Prasidh Krishna in this Test match as opposed to the Test he played for India earlier in South Africa, he has looked the best to me. Yesterday, although he did not quite get the wickets, he was still India’s number two seamer. He was better than Mohammed Siraj, certainly more potent than Shardul Thakur.”
“So, India made the right choice and went for him; this is Prasidh Krishna doing the best he can. With time, if he gets a couple of wickets and builds confidence, he might just get better and better. I will not be critical of Prasidh Krishna with the way he’s bowled — he has done everything he possibly could to the best of his ability,” he added.
Meanwhile, former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta pointed out the lack of consistency from the 29-year-old pacer. The 48-year-old said in the same conversation:
“That has been the challenge. He has bowled good deliveries, but not consistently enough. We have always talked about Prasidh’s natural length, and especially against batters, who love playing their shots and have an array of options available to them, it becomes a little difficult. So, every now and then, you’d see him leaking runs. That is the reason you see that kind of economy rate.”
Prasidh Krishna is playing his fourth Test. He bagged eight wickets in his previous three games in the longest format. His previous Test came against Australia, where he bagged six wickets in Sydney during the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said he would have picked Arshdeep Singh for his left-arm pace option over Prasidh Krishna in the first Test. The 52-year-old recently told PTI (via Business Standard):
“I’d have picked Arshdeep for the different angle he offers but it’s okay, the selected bowlers are talented.”
Apart from Krishna, Shardul Thakur also leaked more than six runs per over, conceding 38 without any wickets in his six overs. Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj returned with figures of 2/122 in his 27 overs.
India will now be hoping to put another solid batting performance to put England under pressure in the run-chase. Jasprit Bumrah’s spell helped India take a six-run lead in the first innings. They went to Stumps on Day 3 ahead by 96 runs and down by two wickets setting up an exciting Day 4 of the test match.
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