“Everyone was eager to send Prasidh Krishna out” - Former India star blasts fans amid ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin slammed the fans' mentality and lack of patience when it comes to players who are still looking to settle in the national team and the international circuit. He cited pacer Prasidh Krishna as an example, who responded with four wickets in the first innings of the fifth Test against England at The Oval after an unimpressive start.

Prasidh Krishna was picked as the third seamer in the squad for the series opener at Headingley, Leeds, but had a poor outing, particularly in terms of economy. He retained his place for the second Test as Jasprit Bumrah was rested, but picked only one wicket in the record win.

He then sat out the next two Tests with the likes of Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj coming into the India playing XI. Ashwin recalled how fans were too early to judge Prasidh Krishna, and how they are now revelling in his success.

"Nowadays in this social media generation, people latch onto you pretty quick. Everyone was eager to send Prasidh Krishna out of the playing XI. It is not as if the selectors don't know, or the coach does not know that Prasidh Krishna is a rare commodity in Indian cricket. When he gets it right, he can be uncomfortable (to face)," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

The right-arm pacer set things in motion in the second session on Day 2 for India with a hostile spell. He was even involved in a heated altercation with Joe Root, and ended up with crucial wickets of Zak Crawley, and the lower middle-order trio of Jamie Smith, Craig Overton, and Gus Atkinson.

Prasidh Krishna finished with impressive figures of 4-62 off 16 overs, marking his first ever four-fer in Test cricket.

He was well complemented by Mohammed Siraj, who ran the show with his lethal nip-backers. The right-arm pacer sent back the middle-order pair of Ollie Pope and Joe Root, trapping them LBW with some unplayable deliveries.

Ashwin hailed Siraj for stepping up as the leader of the Indian bowling attack once again in Jasprit Bumrah's absence.

"He's (Siraj) looked like the leader of the attack. Yet another game that Jasprit Bumrah is not there, but this attack has said, 'No Problem, we will try and fill his shoes'. We have always backed batters in Indian culture, we consider them stars, and that is fine, not a problem as such. When you look at that fast bowling attack, and see a lot of raw material, you should back them," the former spinner added.

Mohammed Siraj also picked up a four-wicket haul which makes him the leading wicket-taker of the series. With 18 wickets to his name at an average of 35, he surpassed England skipper Ben Stokes in the leaderboard.

"He must know Graham Thorpe's story" - R Ashwin on Mohammed Siraj paying tribute to former England batter

Select England players and even some broadcasters had donned Graham Thorpe's trademark headband to commemorate the former England batter and coach, who passed away in August last year.

Mohammed Siraj also paid his respects by wearing one of the headbands on the filed on Day 2. Ashwin appreciated the gesture by the Indian seamer, terming him as the man with a heart of gold.

"I don't know how much of stats or numbers he (Siraj) would know about Graham Thorpe, but I want to say something about him, the guy has got a heart of gold. He must know Graham Thorpe's story, because he was a coach when he last toured. So, I am not surprised with what Siraj did, just Siraj things," Ashwin said.

On the back of the stellar bowling performance, India only had to counter a 23-run deficit initially before building a lead. At Stumps on Day 2, the visitors were placed at 75-2 in 18 overs.