“He has got the tools to come out here and play the game” - Rohit Sharma backs Prasidh Krishna after Centurion defeat 

Team India captain Rohit Sharma threw his weight behind Prasidh Krishna after the pacer made an unimpressive Test debut in the Boxing Day clash against South Africa in Centurion. Rohit admitted that the lanky fast bowler’s inexperience was on show, but asserted that he has the skills to perform at the top level.

With Mohammed Shami ruled out of the Test series due to a heel injury, India had to pick either Prasidh or Mukesh Kumar as his replacement. They went for the former, a move which backfired. Prasidh looked completely out of place in his debut Test, registering figures of 1/93 from 20 overs.

India went on to lose the Centurion Test by an innings and 32 runs, crumbing to 131 in 34.1 overs in their second innings. Speaking at a post-match press conference, Rohit refused to be too harsh on Prasidh.

He was quoted as saying by India Today:

"Look, a little bit inexperience, of course, but he has got the tools to come out here and play the game. The bowlers that we have back in India, some of them are injured, some of them are not available. So we try to pick the guys who are available and we see the conditions that we are coming up against and try to pick the bowlers based on that."

The 36-year-old added that more than experience, it’s how you feel in the mind that also matters a lot.

“How you treat your mind and how you want to play the game is more important. If you keep thinking, 'Oh, I've not played a lot of Test matches, I've not played too many first-class games', it's not going to help,” he elaborated.

Jasprit Bumrah was the best bowler for India in Centurion with figures of 4/69. Along with Prasidh, Shardul Thakur also struggled, registering figures of 1/101 from 19 overs.

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“He has played a lot of white-ball cricket for us” - Rohit on Prasidh

While reflecting on Prasidh’s poor performance in the Centurion Test, Rohit asserted that the fast bowler has played a lot of white-ball cricket for India in recent years. He also praised the 27-year-old’s attitude and reiterated that he has the potential to do well.

"He has played a lot of white-ball cricket for us in the last two or three years, and he has shown that he has got a lot of potential. Obviously, it didn't work out well for him playing his first game, but we all were nervous when we played our first game," he said.

"These things happen, but the guy definitely has the game to excel in this particular format. So we are going to back him because he definitely has the potential and he has got a great attitude as well about his game,” Rohit concluded.

Prasidh has featured in 17 ODIs and five T20Is for India, claiming 29 and eight wickets, respectively.