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Prasidh Krishna added to squad ahead of Oval Test

‘There is nothing more to it. Ishant Sharma’s form in the last game was a bit of concern but we have sorted out things. Prasidh’s is a precautionary inclusion, that’s all,’ says India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun.

India bowling coach Bharat Arun on Wednesday said pacer Prasidh Krishna has been added to the team squad for workload management issues. The five-match series between India and England stands level at 1-1, and now the fourth Test would be played at The Oval, London, beginning Thursday.

“Prasidh has been included in the team considering all the workload management issues. There is nothing more to it. Ishant Sharma’s form in the last game was a bit of concern but we have sorted out things. Prasidh’s is a precautionary inclusion, that’s all,” said Arun during a virtual press conference on Wednesday. “To be really honest, we are looking at the workload in this series, we should not look too far ahead. We should look at how we can play bowlers with fresh legs and it is being looked at purely on the basis of this series,” he added.

With the score reading 215/2 at the start of the fourth morning, India would have hoped to continue the remarkable comeback they had started scripting on the third day of the third Test at Leeds on Friday. But it wasn’t to be as the England bowlers came out all guns blazing and wrapped the game up in the opening session itself on Saturday to register an innings and 76-run win.

“If you look at the Lord’s Test, you would say Indian bowling was better than the English bowling. That’s the time when Indian bowlers did everything right. In Headingley Test, I would agree that English bowlers looked a lot better. But I would also like to see how they would bowl if they are defending a score of 78, it is no excuse for the bowlers. Yes, there is always room for improvement and it will be a different cup of tea in the next Test match,” said Arun.

Commenting on R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja playing the next game, he said: “It depends on the conditions (playing Ashwin and Jadeja in tandem).

It depends on all these things. Ashwin is one of the best bowlers we have but it is unfortunate that he has not played so far. If there is an opportunity, they both will be bowling in tandem.”

Talking about the form of Joe Root, Arun said: “You have hit the nail on the head. We have given him quite fast starts, we will look deep into those areas and we will look to stem those.”

The bowling coach also said the team is looking to bounce back strongly. “We have been bowled out for 36 in the past and we have bounced back from that. We have our ways to bounce back and we have done it in the past, we can take the confidence from the past. I am sure you can see much more spirited performances in the coming two Tests,” he said

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