Prasidh Krishna produced a sensational, career-best spell of 5 for 23 in 8.2 overs during the third ODI against Afghanistan at Chepauk on Saturday (June 20), leading India to a 3-0 series sweep.
The lanky pacer heavily exploited the seam and bounce early on, removing Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, and Darwish Rasooli inside the first 10 overs.
Afghanistan's captain Hashmatullah Shahidi (102 off 131) and Azmatullah Omarzai (50) managed to rebuild. However, Prasidh returned to the attack and wrapped up the innings by dismissing Shahidi, securing his maiden ODI five-wicket haul.
The visitors were bundled out for 218 runs. India comfortably chased the target with nine wickets and 128 deliveries to spare, fueled by 170-run partnership for the opening wicket between Yashasvi Jaiswal (110* off 86) and Rohit Sharma (79 off 69).
Speaking during the post-match presentation after receiving the Player-of-the-Match award, Prasidh Krishna credited his success to tactical "homework" and the fierce, healthy competition in the nets shared with world-class teammates in both the national squad and his IPL franchise, the Gujarat Titans (GT).
“Yeah, ice bath's the only thing remaining now, so body feels good. Bit of a break after the innings, but good to see the way the batsmen batted. I'm really, really happy for the team,” Prasidh said.
“(Can you give us an idea of what you've been doing?) Yeah, I think it's just that kind of hit the length that, as a team, whatever we discussed, what the tactic is, just trying to do that a lot more and also preparation-wise. You just sit back and think about what the games have been like, what you actually want to do, spend more time thinking about it. And it's just the homework, I would say, that has been really good,” he added.
“(On having a good bunch of bowlers around him in GT and the Indian team) Honestly, that's really helpful when you have some real good bowlers alongside. You keep learning from each other. There's always a competition in the nets. So that's what keeps you going when you have the right kind of group around you. You always push each other to do better and I think that's paid off,” he remarked.
When asked if he wanted to bowl a sixth over to secure his five-for, Prasidh admitted the thought crossed his mind but decided to keep a level head. He was ultimately thrilled with the milestone but maintained that the team's victory mattered most.
“Yeah, I did get that thought for a bit, but then I told myself I've still got a lot of the game to go. But then I came back in and I saw, look, four wickets, five wickets, I am definitely happier with the five, but if I hadn't got it, I'm sure we'd still end up on the winning side. So I'm happy with that,” he concluded.
