India are slated to play a series of 10 Test matches till January as they aim to qualify for their third straight World Test Championship (WTC) final in 2025. Perhaps the most challenging and crucial out of these will be the five-match Test series against Australia in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, which begins from November 22. India’s pace attack will be absolutely crucial in this series, given the fast bowling-friendly tracks Down Under. While Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are more than likely to be the first choice pacers in the lineup, the option for te third seamer remains open. Mohammed Siraj is the obvious choice, with people like Arshdeep Singh and Akash Deep also in contention. However, former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey has a different name in mind.
In an interaction with Cricbuzz, Paras Mhambrey has said that he would want to see Prasidh Krishna as the third seamer, as he can provide a different dimension to the bowling attack, especially after the ball is more than 30-35 overs old in Australia. This is because he can move the ball and utilize the bounce.
“Obviously in Australia, the Kookaburra is different and you need to make use of the 30-35 overs with the newish ball because that’s when you can look to pick wickets. You are going to want to look at who can give you those wickets, what are skillsets that you feel are going to be important,” Mhambrey said
“Having that bounce is going to be important, and that is why I want to see how someone like Prasidh shapes up. And I want him to have a great Duleep Trophy then straightaway you have a third seamer who is different from the others. Because later on after the 30-35 overs, it does get flat and you need to have someone to have something different and the bounce is something you can use,” he added.
Prasidh Krishna has had his fair share of injury troubles, and has once again been ruled out of the Duleep Trophy 2024 first round as he has still not recovered from a lower quadriceps surgery.
