IND Vs SA: Rohit Sharma Hopeful Of Prasidh Krishna Performing Well At Highest Level

Indian Captain Rohit Sharma has expressed his hopes about Prasidh Krishna being able to perform well at the highest level despite an unsatisfactory debut outing in the 1st Test against South Africa at Centurion. The visitors lost the match in a shambolic manner, by an entire inning and 32 runs, and with that India’s hopes of breaching the “Final Frontier” were crashed.

In the 2nd Test, India’s main aim will be to equalize the series as there is not much left. Had it been a 3 or 4-match series then the 1st test loss wouldn’t have mattered that much. However, the final test at Newlands Cricket Ground will serve as a learning curve for the team, especially for those players who are playing red-ball cricket in South African conditions for the first time.

Top-order and middle-order batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer along with right-arm pacer Prasidh Krishna will have learned a lot from the 1st test loss itself and as they try to make amends at Cape Town, they will learn some more valuable lessons as well.

Rohit Sharma Confirms Everyone Is Available For Selection

Ahead of Day 1 at Newlands, Captain Rohit Sharma while speaking in a press conference confirmed that “everyone” is available for selection, meaning Ravindra Jadeja could be back in the side after missing the Centurion test due to upper back spasms in the morning of Day 1.

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The 36-year-old stated that an internal meeting was held within the coaching management where things like team combinations and expectations from players were discussed. He mentioned that the team is yet to be finalized and no one is injured at the moment, thus everyone is available for selection.

“Although we’ve had a brief chat with the management, the coaching staff about what we want from this game, and what we want from the bowlers in this game, we’ve not completely finalized our playing XI. Everyone is available for selection. There’s no injury concern. All of them who are here are available to play. We’ll sit down in the evening and decide what is the right one.” – said Rohit Sharma.

The Indian captain who led the team to 2 ICC final losses this year, admitted that there is a little bit of inexperience in their bowling department but at the same time, he also believes that backing those players and showing faith in them is very important.

“It’s Normal To Be Under Pressure On Debut”, Rohit Sharma On Giving Longer Rope to Prasidh Krishna

Rohit used the example of Prasidh Krishna who had figures of 1/93 in 20 overs and became a subject of criticism for his inconsistent line lengths and for leaking way too many runs along with Shardul Thakur who conceded 101 runs himself. Despite Krishna’s expensive spell due to pressure, Rohit Sharma believes that he is more than capable of staging a turnaround and said that he is going to do very well in this format.

“Like I said in the last post-match press-conference [in Centurion] about Prasidh [Krishna] playing his first game, we all get nervous when you are playing your first game. It’s understandable, but I thought, and I’ll still back that thought of mine, that he’s got good ability to succeed at this level and especially in this format.” – Rohit Sharma concluded.

Lastly, Rohit shed a little light on the conditions on offer at Newlands, claiming that overhead conditions are slightly hotter than it was in Centurion but claimed that the behavior of the pitch is expected to remain the same as the 1st Test.

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