NEW DELHI: India suffered a defeat in the opening Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley, Leeds, giving England a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. With the series heating up, attention has now shifted to the management of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s workload. Despite the result, India head coach Gautam Gambhir reiterated that Bumrah will only play in three of the five Tests, a decision made before the series started.“Haven’t decided which two matches Bumrah will play, but he will play a total of three. We need to manage his workload. The scoreline doesn’t change that… he will play three Tests only,” Gambhir had said after the match.
In Bumrah’s absence, fellow pacer Prasidh Krishna sees an opportunity.“What a culture we guys have created. We are learning from each other, no matter who’s there or who’s around. And with Booms (Bumrah) around, he’s been talking to all of us throughout, even before coming here. At least for me, I’ve been part of this team for a few years now, so the conversations are still going on. One thing you cannot get is experience — you have to go through it yourself. And yeah, I think all of us are excited,” Prasidh told reporters in Birmingham.“If you look at the team, everybody is here. Siraj has played a lot of games, he’s going to continue playing, and whoever comes in — or whatever happens later — it’s a great experience and an opportunity. That’s the way we look at it,” he added.England’s win was historic — they became the first team in over 60,000 first-class matches to concede five individual centuries and still chase down a 300-plus target. Chasing 371, Duckett (149) and Root (53*) powered England to 373/5. Jamie Smith finished things off with a six. India posted 835 runs in the match with two centuries from Rishabh Pant, but suffered batting collapses — 7 for 41 and 6 for 31 — that proved costly.Prasidh also dismissed any dressing room issues.“The dressing room is still positive, happy, and very, very motivated. Like I said, we came here knowing what this opportunity meant for all of us. And even in the game today, we might have looked quiet at times, but I think we still had a plan,” he said.“”We wanted to do something, and we went about doing it — we got two wickets in a cluster, twice. So that kept the motivation going. And then, you know, as a bowling unit, when something’s happening, we still ended up taking the new ball. They needed about 20 runs, but we held on to the hope that something might happen. So we were still out there believing. We made sure that until the last run was scored, we were still fighting and making them work hard for it,” he added.‘I’M LEARNING’While Bumrah took five wickets in the first innings, the support cast — Siraj, Prasidh, and Shardul — struggled. Prasidh was expensive and lacked consistency.He picked up three wickets in the first innings but gave away 128 runs in 20 overs (economy 6.40). In the second innings, he claimed two more but conceded 92 runs in 15 overs (economy 6.10).“Yeah, definitely (on economy over 6). I had a few conversations with some of the guys about how this game went. I definitely want to bring that number down — to the best I can. And I think I’m learning as well. It’s on me — I can’t say anything else. It’s my responsibility to get better, and that’s what I’m trying. That’s what I’m working on. I just want to make sure I put in the right kind of work and come back here with better numbers,” Prasidh said.“”Every time I come out to bowl, I’m definitely looking to bowl a maiden. I’m not really trying to give away boundaries or anything. The outfield was fast. The lengths and lines I bowled weren’t perfect, to be honest, most of the time. And they took me on — some were edges, and some were bouncers I tried that ended up going for runs. But I think someone in the team had to do it. And if I sit back and only look at my numbers or economy rate and not the wickets — well, it got me a four and a six, and then Jamie Smith got out. So if that’s what it takes to get a wicket, I’m happy to do it. But yes, every time I bowl, I’m looking to keep the economy rate down and build pressure,” the pacer added.“If I look at the first innings, I was a little shorter than where I wanted to be. Ideally, six to eight meters is what I was aiming for — that’s what I would say. In the second innings, it got slightly better because the wicket was a bit slower. I had to pitch a few deliveries slightly behind the ideal spot and then go a bit fuller when trying to get a wicket. So yeah, I definitely didn’t bowl the lengths I wanted to,” he said.PRASIDH ON CAPTAIN GILLThis England series is Gill’s first as India’s Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Prasidh has already played under Gill at Gujarat Titans.“About Shubman — yeah, I think he did a pretty good job. All of us saw how he rotated the bowlers, made sure everyone got enough breaks, and brought bowlers in at the right times. He spotted opportunities and used the right bowlers accordingly. All of that was great. And knowing him, he created a very good atmosphere around the team.“He’s been speaking to all of us. We always go in with a plan, and the communication is happening there. As lower-order batsmen, we are definitely working on our game. If you look at our net sessions, we are putting in the work. I think it’s also about putting your mind into it — making sure you trust yourself, trust the skill you have, and stay at the crease a little longer. The runs and numbers will then follow. And we are working towards that,” Prasidh concluded.
