Team India suffered a five-wicket defeat in the first Test against England at Headingley despite their batters scoring five centuries in the match. The visitors failed to defend a 371-run target, conceding a 1-0 lead in the five-Test rubber.
This outcome has put the Indian bowlers under scrutiny. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, no one managed to leave a mark.
Prasidh Krishna was among the bowlers who endured a tough outing. He leaked 220 runs in the series opener across the two innings.
On Saturday (June 28), the Karnataka seamer took "complete responsibility" for his failure to hit the right lengths in the first Test against England, but said he was at all times trying to be miserly with his bowling.
"If I look at the first innings, I was a little too short than where I wanted to be, 6-8 is ideal. Second innings it got slightly better, because again, the wicket was slightly slower. I had to pitch a few slightly behind 8, and go slightly fuller, when I am trying to get a wicket.
"I definitely did not bowl the lengths that I wanted to. It took me some time to get used to the slope on that side. No reasons, but I should be able to do it as a professional. I take complete responsibility about it, and maybe, do it better next time," Prasidh said at a press conference.
In the first innings, Prasidh conceded 128 runs in 20 overs at an economy of 6.40. However, he bagged the wickets of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith.
The lanky pacer gave India hope in the second innings with the wickets of Zak Crawley and Pope but his economy rate was again above six (6.10), conceding 92 runs in 15 overs.
"Every time I come out to bowl, I was definitely looking to bowl a maiden. I am not really trying to give away boundaries or anything. The outfield was fast. The lengths, lines that I bowled was not perfect, to be honest, at most times. And they took me on. Some of them were edges.
"Some of them, I tried bowling bouncers. But I ended up giving runs. But definitely, every time I come out to bowl, I was looking to keep the economy rate down and build the pressure up," Prasidh said.
India will now be eyeing a series-leveling win in the second Test, slated to be held at Edgbaston from July 2.
(With PTI Inputs)
