“We practice putting the ball in water and trying to bowl with it” - Prasidh Krishna on the challenge of tackling dew

Team India pacer Prasidh Krishna has admitted that bowlers do practice putting the ball in water and trying to bowl with it to replicate dew-like conditions in a match. The fast bowler, however, admitted that bowling in an international game with dew on the field is a different ball game.

India beat Australia by 44 runs in the second T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. The Men in Blue posted 235/4 batting first before restricting the Aussies to 191/9.

While the hosts ended up winning the match comfortably, Krishna admitted that bowling second wasn’t easy as the dew came in very early in the innings.

Asked whether the bowlers practice bowling in wet conditions, the pacer admitted:

“We practice putting the ball in the water and trying to bowl with it.” He, however, added, “But then, the whole aspect of pressure and the game comes in. When you are in a game, you are sweating. The towel that you have is literally wet.”

Speaking specifically about the Thiruvananthapuram T20I, the 27-year-old revealed that he got a new towel at the end of his third over, which became wet after he bowled a couple of balls in his next over.

“I got a fresh towel when I finished the third over and then fourth over, the second ball, the towel is all wet. You really can’t do much at that point of time. You do practice, but then when it comes to the match, it’s a different ball game,” Krishna elaborated.

Despite the challenging conditions, the right-arm pacer impressed with the ball, registering figures of 3/41 in his four overs.

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“As a bowling unit, we need to learn to tackle it” - Krishna on dew factor

Responding to another query on bowling with dew on the field, Krishna reiterated that it is a challenge, but asserted that bowlers need to learn to tackle it since it’s a part of the game.

“Yes, it was quite difficult. We expected this. We were planning about tackling dew even in Vizag. Luckily, we didn’t really have to do much at Vizag. But then, here it was really wet. Even in the sixth over and eighth over, Mukesh [Kumar] was coming and telling me that there’s a lot of dew that’s coming in,” he said.

‘This is a part of the game while we are playing in India. As a bowling unit, we need to learn to tackle it. It’s really difficult, but that’s the game and we need to adapt to it,” Krishna stated.

Meanwhile, having taken a 2-0 lead, India will look to clinch the five-match series against Australia when the teams clash in Guwahati on Tuesday.