‘I’m sure I'd see him play all three formats for India': Jos Buttler's big prediction for young Prasidh Krishna
IPL 2022: Rajasthan Royals' batter Jos Buttler made big predictions for pacer Prasidh Krishna, saying that the young pacer will play in all three formats for India.
Prasidh Krishna's love affair with short-pitched deliveries is now an open secret. More than 70% of his wickets at the top level come from deliveries that are pitched on his half of the wicket. Such has been his addiction to ruffle the batters by banging it into the pitch that it is hard for him to resist even in the net session. "Yeah he's really pacey at the nets... He's got some really good skills," said Rajasthan Royals' England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler while replying to a Hindustan Times query in a virtual press conference ahead of RR's IPL 2022 match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
His 6'2 inches frame and strong shoulders make the job easier to give a hard time to the batters, especially with the new ball as the Sunrisers Hyderabad top-order found out when Krishna nicked out Kane Williamson and Rahul Tripathi with short of a good length deliveries that shaped away.
Prasidh's natural ability to make the ball bounce at a fair clip since his younger days had always made him special. In his first tryst with the big boys, the right-arm seamer had bowled a few quick bouncers to Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the RCB nets.
He didn't get an IPL contract then but his raw talent had left a mark on then captain Kohli, who would later go on to describe Prasidh as 'x-factor' after he had made a name in domestic cricket.
For a man who had dismissed four international cricketers - Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Nasir Hossain - in his first-class debut against a touring Bangladesh A side at the age of 19, only 11 red-ball games till now seem a little hard to digest.
The presence of veterans Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun and Prasidh's dates with injuries did play a role in it but the 26-year-old hit the nail on the head when he admitted during the West Indies home series before this year's IPL that it was his inconsistency that had always acted as the biggest hurdle.
With a strong physique and raw pace as his allies, Prasidh worked tireless on the mental aspect of fast bowling and also improved his wrist position to get more control. The result has been exemplary. He picked up 9 wickets in the three-match ODI series against West Indies and took 15 wickets in two Ranji matches after that.
When Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants fought tooth and nail to bag Prasidh in the IPL mega auction, it surprised none. His power-packed performances in all forms of the game in the last year had fast-risen him to be the next big things of the already illustrious Indian pace batter.
Prasidh's teammate and white-ball great Buttler feels that he is ready to represent India in all three formats.
"He has got all the attributes to be a really successful fast bowler for India. And I'm sure I'd be seeing him playing in all formats for India," Buttler added.
The fact that Prasidh has a new ball partner in New Zealand great Trent Boult at the Royals is likely to do a world of good.
He did not have the best of days against Mumbai Indians but all eyes will be on him when he has the ball in his hand against the likes of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, that is known to assist the seamers with the new ball.