Karnataka seamer Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out of the three-match unofficial Test series against a visiting New Zealand A side due to a back issue, which the selectors don’t want the right-arm quick to aggravate considering he is a regular ODI pick for the country.
Owing to his back injury, Prasidh couldn’t make the playing XI for the unofficial Test in Bangalore. Instead, India A fielded a seam attack of Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal and Arzan Nagwaswalla for what turned out to be a dull high-scoring draw.
Prasidh will be deeply disappointed by the untimely nature of the injury. Always considered a Test match prospect because of his height and the ability to extract bounce and seam movement off a length, the pacer had the chance to impress the selectors ahead of India’s coming assignments via a good showing against New Zealand A.
With India set to face Australia in February-March next year for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the Test series in December in Bangladesh was being looked at as an ideal opportunity for the selectors to trial out their fringe fast-bowling. Prasidh being one of those bright seamers, his case for national selection would’ve gained strength through a strong display for the “A” side.
Nevertheless, the pacer will hope to recover in time for the start of the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic first-class competition, and raise his stocks again. Prasidh has an impressive red-ball record, averaging 17.61 after 11 first-class matches with two five-fers in his 49 wickets.
Last seen in action in Zimbabwe last month, Thakur will now join India A squad in place of Prasidh. He was earlier named in the West Zone squad to take part in the Duleep Trophy from September 8-25, but will now skip the zonal tournament, for which Chetan Sakariya has been named his replacement.
India A squad (updated)
Priyank Panchal (c), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Varma, KS Bharat (wk), Upendra Yadav (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Arzan Nagwaswalla
