Gill backs Prasidh, Gurnoor to step up ahead of Sri Lanka Test series

India captain Shubman Gill hinted that Prasidh Krishna could partner Mohammed Siraj with the new ball against Sri Lanka. Gill praised rookie Gurnoor Brar but said selecting between the two pacers would be difficult ahead of the opening Test in Galle

Galle: India captain Shubman Gill has indicated that Prasidh Krishna will share the new ball with the seasoned Mohammed Siraj in the first Test against Sri Lanka starting Saturday even though rookie Gurnoor Brar has also made a strong case with his ability to strike with the old cherry.

While India will be going with three left-arm slow bowlers — two orthodox in Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar and a wrist spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, Siraj is the only certainty among the four Indian pacers on this tour.

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While Auqib Nabi is not even in contention, the choice is between the 6-foot-5-inch tall Brar and an inch shorter Prasidh, who has already played seven Tests and taken 25 wickets.

“They both are very skilled bowlers and they bowled really well in the practice match. We have seen how good Gurnoor is with the old ball when nothing is happening,” Gill said on the eve of the opening Test.

“He is excellent with the old ball. You need that extra pace, extra bounce. He’s obviously very tall as well. But I think Prasidh recently has been bowling the best that I have ever seen him bowl. In the red ball and also in white ball. So it would be a very tough decision for us to be able to just pick one,” he added.

For him, this series is an opportunity for the likes of Prasidh and Brar to raise their game in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who is out with a knee injury.

“Bumrah is not here. But I think it is a really good opportunity for some of the other bowlers to really step up and leave a mark on the series,” he said.

But Gill also made it clear that the tourists need to be creative to sustain pressure on the Lankans, a strong outfit at home.

“The Test itself is a little bit slow. So, you have to keep trying different things to be able to take wickets, especially in the subcontinent. You have to create opportunities, especially on day 1 and day 2.

“If there is not much happening from the wicket, how can you create pressure? How can you not let the game slip away too much from you? So yes, having those kinds of creative fields helps our bowlers,” he noted.

Southpaw Devdutt Padikkal is expected to start at No.3 in the absence of another left-hander Sai Sudharsan while the under-pressure Dhruv Jurel is expected to bat in the middle-order despite his poor returns in the last few Tests.

Gill said the management believes in giving time for each player to grow into their assigned roles.

“We have players who have immense potential and skill. It is not always easy for batters coming in. We want them to succeed from the first inning or from the first Test match. But players are going to grow at their own time.

“It is important to give the players that time. I also remember when I came in, I was not the most consistent player, but they persisted with me and because of that, I was able to succeed after a certain point.”

Gill hoped that Devdutt would exploit the opportunity that has come his way now.

“So, even for the players that are coming in, not everyone is going to have a huge amount of success from the first Test. Some players require a little bit more time.

“But Devdutt is someone who has been here before, he was here with India. He did really well. And he has got all the skills and all the, you know, all the potential to be able to succeed in this format,” he detailed.

However, Gill said experience does matter in Test cricket and they have been picking the brains of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, who have toured Sri Lanka in 2017 to have a better understanding of the conditions.

“Yes, in group discussions they do talk about their experiences and how the game flowed. Because it’s very important to know every venue, every country has a different kind of flow. How you play, how you play, how you play there. And they did talk about that,” he said.