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Team India pacer Prasidh Krishna could be in consideration to play the upcoming contest against Nepal in Asia Cup 2023 following Jasprit Bumrah's brief departure from the squad.
Bumrah has reportedly left Sri Lanka for personal reasons, but he is expected to join the squad for the Super Four fixtures, should India win over Nepal and seal their progress.
In his absence, India do have a void in their pace bowling unit. The bowlers did not have a chance against a quality opposition after the second innings of the opening contest against Pakistan was washed out entirely. The likes of Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna emerge as the candidates to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the playing XI as a straightforward swap.
Mohammed Siraj and Hardik Pandya will absolutely retain their places in the playing XI, but there are several other possibilities that Team India can proceed with, each with their own perks and perils.
On that note, let us take a look at three reasons why Prasidh Krishna must feature in India's XI for Asia Cup 2023 clash vs Nepal
#1 India do not need too much batting depth against Nepal
There is a huge mismatch when Team India's imperious batting unit is compared with Nepal's bowling attack. Pakistan had their issues at the beginning against the Nepal bowlers during their group stage match but managed to score a mammoth total in the process as well.
Team India have been unable to field three frontline pacers because of the frailty it brings to the batting order. While it spruces up the bowling unit, the batting becomes quite thin, with Ravindra Jadeja arguably being the last batter at No. 7, with a long tail following him.
As a result, Shardul Thakur has been placed at No. 8, for some handy runs down the order, which is required against a strong opposition, as well as his seam bowling.
However, with the Nepal bowling unit not possessing enough threat to rattle the Indian batting as how Pakistan did, the prospect of resting Shardul Thakur to include Prasidh Krishna can be considered.
The trio of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Prasidh Krishna will be a treat to behold as they nearly tick all of the boxes, in what is required from a pace battery.
#2 Need to keep him ready as a backup
Reports suggest that Prasidh Krishna might be one of the names that might be excluded from the Asia Cup squad to forge the World Cup squad. Even though he might not be part of the main squad, the pacer cannot be cast away at this point in time.
With the likes of Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Avesh Khan all out of the picture, Krishna emerges as the first-choice backup pacer for the World Cup, in the case of injury, and is likely to be part of the standby players.
Since there are crucial fixtures ahead in the form of virtual knockout games in the Super Four stages and the bilateral ODI series against Australia, there will not be another opportunity to include him in the playing XI.
His last ODI appearance came against Zimbabwe in 2022, and while he recently made his comeback, it was in the shortest format of the game against Ireland. The upcoming Nepal clash also presents a good avenue to reintegrate the pacer into the 50-over format.
#3 Bowling with good rhythm and brings variety to the unit
Prasidh Krishna, making his T20I debut against Ireland last month, looked in good rhythm after coming from a lengthy injury layoff. He was able to bowl with pace and intensity to claim four wickets in two matches.
Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami bring intensity with them, both are proficient with the new ball. Krishna's presence acts as a perfect balance as he can operate in the middle overs as well once the opening bowlers do their part. Nepal might find it really hard to negotiate the pace and bounce as the tall bowler is likely to hit the deck hard.
Now even if Krishna comes in as a direct replacement for Bumrah in the side. He can either bowl with the new ball alongside Siraj or come in later into the attack with Siraj and Thakur sharing the new-ball responsibility.
Who will replace Jasprit Bumrah in the Team India playing XI for the upcoming clash against Nepal? Let us know what you think.
