How Stints To Australia With Jeff Thomson Helped Prasidh Krishna Develop Into A High-Quality Pacer

Karanataka pacer and the latest Indian debutant Prasidh Krishna has a brilliant maiden during the first ODI against England where he not only impressed with his skill-set but also with his temperament.

Prasidh did not have the best start to his international career as he was taken to the cleaners by Jonny Bairstow in his first spell. But the right-arm pacer did not get bog down and roared back in his second spell by claiming wickets of Jason Roy and Ben Stokes.

Prasidh Krishna eventually ended with four wickets to become the first Indian to take more than three scalps on ODI debut.

Prasidh is yet another Indian seam-bowling prospect, someone who has benefitted hugely from his stints with former Australian pacer Jeff Thomson.

It was back in 2017 when Krishna, as part of the IDBI Federal Bowling Foundation, along with two other pacers went to Australia to train under Thomson.

According to veteran columnist Makarand Waingankar, training at Cricket Australia academy under Thomson proved to be beneficial for Prasidh Krishna.

“The exposure Prasidh Krishna got at the CA Academy stood him in good stead and helped improve his skills,” he told PTI.

The veteran columnist was full of praise for the manner in which Prasidh Krishna bounced back in his debut match.

“He is very intelligent…I am talking about his cricket intelligence. This helped him bounce back after a tough start when he was taken apart by the England openers” he added. This showed the boy’s character,” the veteran columnist added.

M Senthilnathan, the head coach of MRF pace foundation, where Krishna had trained under the legendary Glenn McGrath, said that the youngster improved by leaps and bounds since being picked in 2017.

”We selected him in 2017. He had done well for Karnataka in a game against the touring Bangladesh ‘A’ side in 2015 and that got him noticed. he said, “After he came to the MRF Academy we worked on his physical side, he did gym work and we worked on his skills. He works very hard on his game,” he added.

Prasidh Krishna also went to the CA Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in 2019 as part of MOU between MRF Pace Foundation and Cricket Australia.

Senthilnathan also hailed the fast bowler’s mental strength which helped him stage a fightback during his debut game.

“The beauty is that he came back very strongly after being hit…He fought back, stuck to the basics and did not over-try which brought him success,” Senthilnathan added.

Also Read- Glenn McGrath Brought In An Era Of Calmness And Taught Me To Remain In Present At All Times: Prasidh Krishna