NEWS
Follow UsThe fifth and last Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 has reached a flexion point. At the end of day two, India led by 145 runs with four wickets in hand. The pitch was tricky right from the first hour of the game, and Australia folded for 181 in their first innings after India scored 185 in theirs.
It was a great effort from the Indian pacers on the day as the talisman of the team and the skipper Jasprit Bumrah had to leave the field after bowling the 31st over of Australia’s first innings (his 10th in the innings) due to back spasms right after the lunch interval. He was taken away for scans and never returned, with Virat Kohli taking the leadership reigns.
Prasidh Krishna and Mohammad Siraj led the Indian bowling efforts, and picked three wickets each. Even Nitish Reddy chimed in when needed and picked two lower-order wickets to end the Australian innings.
However, the verbal battle between the 19-year-old Sam Konstas and the Indian team was the main agenda for the Australian media in the press conferences. Both Australian coach Andrew McDonald and Krishna were asked about Konstas getting under the skin of the Indian team.
Krishna’s response to the situation was quite interesting. The tall Karnataka pacer applauded the youngsters cheekily and acknowledged that it’s fun playing aggressive cricket with a character like that.
“I don’t think so [if Konstas got under the skin of the Indian team], but not yet, I mean. We enjoy the way he plays the game and we also would like to play the game aggressively,” Krishna answered with a smile after day two.
“If we have somebody that comes up and say ‘I can fight you’, as a team we want to tell them that you can’t take us for granted. We are here, 11 of us vs you. If you can be as aggressive, it’s fine.”
Krishna also dwelled on the changes he had to make to adapt to the challenges of bowling first change in the Indian setup.
“Everytime I played with my state [Karnataka], I was bowling with the new ball,” Krishna said.
“Coming here, having to bowl one change, I looked at what everyone else in the world does who is bowling one change — try and give control to the team and be consistent in the line and lengths that I’m bowling. That is the mental change which I made and obviously I had to put some work to try and get myself to that point.”
Krishna also made changes to the lengths he was bowling after returning in the lunch break today, which helped him figure out the right length to bowl on the track.
“When I got back in lunch, I actually looked at where I was bowling and examined my lengths,” the Karnataka pacer admitted.
“However, my perception of length that I was bowling was slightly different. Then the analyst and I sat down together and we had a better idea of what my reference point is when I’m coming in to bowl the next spell and that really helped.”
Despite the change in captains in the middle of the day, Krishna revealed that the bowling attack stuck to their plans, and didn’t alter their plans.
“I think no matter who is leading as a team we prepare very well as a team about what we need to do on the field,” Krishan remarked.
“Plans are pretty clear, even when Bumrah was on or Virat was on. Not much change that way.”
This has been a sweet return to the Indian team setup for Krishna, who has been forced to sit out due to injuries. He certainly seemed relieved to have finally contributed the senior side.
“Definitely feels great to be back in the setup and amongst the guys, and learning every day in the practice or when you are watching the play it feels great,” Krishna said.
“Now when I have got a chance, I haven’t really thought about how much time I’ve missed of cricket. I have been off for sometime now, with two injuries in two years. But definitely feels great [to be back] and hopefully will keep doing this when I remain on the field for longer."
Krishna also revealed that the pitch is still playing its tricks, and when asked what total would be prefer to defend in the fourth innings, he didn’t quote a specific figure but said that more the score, the better it would be.
“It is getting difficult [ to play deliveries ] on some areas, and the ball is keeping low sometimes,” the right arm pacer said.
“But there is enough bounce in the pitch to keep us in the game and look for those edges and try and beat them either side of the edge.
“As many runs as possible would be great for us. We don’t really know what the wicket is behaving like. It’s going up, it’s going down. If you can be aggressive, there is risk involved but you can get the reward of runs. There’s no particular number in mind, but as many runs as possible would be great.”
