NEWS
Follow UsIndian pacer Prasidh Krishna said that he is happy to play international cricket whenever he gets the chance following his match-winning performance of 4-12 against West Indies in the second ODI on Wednesday.
Krishna, who made his debut against England last year, did not play for India for over a year and was picked for the West Indies series after regulars Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were rested.
When asked if going back to domestic cricket will disrupt his rhythm, Prasidh said: "Disrupting the rhythm, I don't see anything like that. As a cricketer, you play whenever you get the chance. When you are not playing, might as well get back to the drawing board, get better at what you can and come back to play whenever you get a chance."
The 25-year old said he has been trying to get consistent with his performances after setting up India's 44-run victory.
"It has been almost a year since I made my debut for India. I have been striving to get more consistent since then," Prasidh said at the post-match press conference.
The Karnataka pacer said that his improvement is down to executing the team's plans on the pitch.
"I remember, when I started off, I used to get excited and had too many emotions running through. But over time, we practised together as a team. We have had plans and we have been very clear on what we wanted to work on. And glad it paid off today," he said.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was effusive in his praise for Prasidh describing his performance as one of the best spells he had seen in India.
"That was something flattering for me because he (Rohit) has been playing cricket for lot of time. (Praise) Coming from him, I am very happy, the pacer said. Personally, like I said, I have been putting in yards and trying to do this for quite some time now, so I am glad it happened today," Prasidh said.
The pacer also felt that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium made it easy for the bowlers.
"The pitch was more favourable for the bowlers. There was more purchase in the wicket. The lengths I was hitting on were very similar, but the extra help was aiding my bowling," he said.
West Indies allrounder Odean Smith rued the batting failure of the team as they were bundled out for 176 and 193 in the two matches.
"The top order batters did not get enough runs, did not spend enough time at the wicket. It was a difficult wicket and as we saw with the Indian innings, two guys (Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul) stayed long. I think that made all the difference as we did not spend enough time in the middle," Smith said.
Smith, who came in for regular skipper Kieron Pollard, claimed 2-29 and scored a 20-ball 24. He felt that there is need to improve both his batting and bowling.
"I've a lot of work to do in both the departments going forward. I've to do a lot more work in my batting. The task was not that difficult, I should have finished the chase with two good overs, so I've a lot of work to do. This was my fifth ODI game, so I've a lot of time to continue learning," he said.
The 28-year old expressed his desire to be picked in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega-auction on February 12 and 13.
"Quite excited going to the auction, I would say. If I get selected, that will be good. My hopes are high on getting selected," Smith said.