IND vs SA: "Shardul Thakur And Prasidh Krishna Definitely Need To Up Their Game" - Dinesh Karthik
Published - 30 Dec 2023, 12:42 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:24 AM
Dinesh Karthik has expressed his disappointment with the lackluster performances of Indian pacers Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna. Dinesh Karthik said that Shardul Thakur had previous tour experience but delivered a subpar performance in the Boxing Day Test.
Team India suffered an innings and 32-run defeat in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion. The Indian batters failed to resist, posting scores of 245 and 131 in both innings. The Indian bowlers conceded 408 runs to South Africa during the recent Test match.
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah showcased an outstanding performance with figures of 4/69 in the series opener, while Mohammed Siraj contributed with 2/91. Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, and Ravichandran Ashwin managed only one wicket each in the South Africa innings.
Shardul Thakur was the most expensive Indian bowler in the previous red-ball encounter, conceding 101 runs from 19 overs. Prasidh Krishna also failed to impress on his debut, giving away 93 runs from 20 overs and picking up the wicket of Kyle Verreynne.
It Was A Very Ordinary performance from Shardul Thakur – Dinesh Karthik
In a conversation with Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik emphasized the necessity for improvement from Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna. Karthik pointed out that Prasidh Krishna’s limited first-class experience was evident in his struggle to control the ball.
“Shardul Thakur and Prasidh Krishna definitely need to up their game. Rohit Sharma is being very kind to them when he said they are young bowlers. But Shardul was there on the previous tour as well and did pretty well. But this time, it was a very ordinary performance with the bat and the ball,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
“Prasidh Krishna is young and doesn’t have too much first-class experience under his belt, and it really showed with the ball as well. He was giving away one too many boundary balls. There was not any control and that’s never a good sign in Test cricket,” he added.
This Indian Attack Is Not What It Used To Be – Dinesh Karthik
The cricketer-turned-commentator said that India’s fast bowling attack is not as threatening in the absence of Mohammed Shami. Karthik emphasized that the current Indian bowling attack lacks the same level of reliability witnessed in previous years.
“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,” Karthik added.
Fast bowler Avesh Khan has been added to India’s Test squad for the upcoming match against South Africa in Cape Town, replacing the injured Mohammed Shami. The second and final Test of the series is scheduled to take place in Capetown from January 3 to 7, 2024.
