Prasidh Krishna makes his place in the squad for the 4th test

In an astonishing development, Prasidh Krishna has been included in India’s squad for the fourth Test of the series. The fast bowler, who was in the team as a reserve bowler, now has made it to the Indian red-ball squad for the first time in his career.

Owing to his excellent domestic record of 34 wickets from nine first-class games at an average of just over 20, the selectors found Prasidh Krishna as an ideal pick. The Karnataka-based right-arm pacer is a skiddy bowler who can swing the ball up front, while also holding a nasty bouncer under his sleeve.

The BCCI confirmed the selection in an official statement: “The All-India Senior Selection Committee – based on the request of the team management – has added fast bowler Prasidh Krishna to India’s squad for the fourth Test. Prasidh, who was on the standby list has been training and traveling with Team India right from the start of the tour. The upcoming Test will be played at The Oval, London from 2nd September.”

This selection has come after India’s massive defeat at Headingley. After the match, Virat Kohli had mentioned the possibility of bringing in a new fast bowler to the squad. Kohli had told reporters in a post-match press conference: “That’s bound to happen as it’s a logical and sensible thing to do. We don’t want to push individuals to a place where they break down and that conversation is important. We will have that conversation with individuals and you can’t expect that in a short turnaround like this guys can play four Test matches in a row. So we will assess who are the guys who will be given that any number of days to recover and be okay for the fifth one.”

Out of the Indian pacers, Ishant Sharma particularly looked out of touch since he was not at all consistent with his line and length. Mohammed Siraj was seen struggling too. It will be interesting to see who India benches out of these two to make way for Prasidh Krishna.

Ravindra Jadeja remains in the squad

Jadeja had suffered a knee injury in the third test and there were chances of him sitting out of the squad. Luckily, that is not the case. He has been retained in the squad which indicates that the injury was not that serious.

India’s full squad for the fourth Test: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

Standby player: Arzan Nagwaswalla