‘Prasidh has a lot of potential’: Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Prasidh Krishna's inclusion in Test Squad

India captain Rohit Sharma (right) with pace bowler Prasidh Krishna during the first Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

The inclusion of Avesh Khan in the squad for the second Test, starting in Cape Town on Wednesday, is an indication that the decision-makers in Indian cricket are a little concerned about their undercooked pace resources in the absence of the injured Mohammed Shami.

Shardul unimpressive

Prasidh Krishna, on debut, and Shardul Thakur didn't impress particularly in the first Test which ended in a humbling defeat inside three days in Centurion on Thursday, failing to maintain the pressure imposed by the crack new-ball combine of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They weren't consistent enough, bowling too many boundary balls while allowing South Africa to amass 408, well above par on a tricky surface that encouraged prodigious lateral movement and steepling, spongy bounce.

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Avesh Khan

The 27-year-old Prasidh, a tall, strapping right-armer, won the nod ahead of Mukesh Kumar, essentially a swing exponent, on the back of his five-wicket haul for India ‘A' against South Africa ‘A' in the first unofficial ‘Test' in Potchefstroom a fortnight back. The Karnataka pacer isn't very experienced - he had played 12 first-class games and only two in the last 21 months before his Test debut - and even though he had an up-and-down Test with one for 93 from 20 overs, Rohit Sharma sprang to the newcomer's defence.

"A little bit of inexperience, of course, but he has got the tools to come out here and play the game," the skipper observed. "Prasidh has been with the Indian team - not around the Test team, but 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 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, which probably will hold us in good stead moving forward."

Avesh in the mix

Avesh, also 27, took a four-for in the first one-day international against South Africa in Johannesburg on December 17, and picked up a five-wicket haul in the second unofficial ‘Test' against South Africa ‘A' which ended in a draw in Benoni on Friday. He is vastly more experienced than Prasidh, with 39 first-class caps - the 30-year-old Mukesh has played 40 times for Bengal and Rest of India - and is in some ways a like-for-like bowler in that he also hits the deck hard. Whether India will be willing to jettison Prasidh after just one Test and blood another debutant is open to debate. One of the non-negotiables in the Rohit-Rahul Dravid era has been constancy in selection and Prasidh didn't have such an awful game as to warrant the axe immediately. But Avesh's inclusion has certainly added greater intrigue, needless to say.