Prasidh Krishna reflects on injuries, resilience and Test cricket

India pacer Prasidh Krishna says adaptability and bowling partnerships are crucial to Test success. Reflecting on his experiences in five-match series and lengthy injury rehabilitation, he also stressed workload management and mental resilience ahead of the Australia series

New Delhi: India pacer Prasidh Krishna has stressed that adaptability and bowling partnerships are key to succeeding in Test cricket, saying red-ball cricket is as much about collective effort as individual brilliance.

Prasidh, who has taken 32 wickets in nine Tests since his debut in 2023, has also completed 50 ODI wickets in 28 matches.

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“I think it’s the ability to adapt and deliver, no matter what the conditions are. You need to be able to run in and bowl your heart out wherever you play. Understanding your bowling partners is also important.

“Like batting, bowling is about partnerships, being able to complement each other and deliver whatever the team needs,” Prasidh told JioStar on Friday.

India are scheduled to begin a busy home season with a three-match ODI series against the West Indies from September 27 in Thiruvananthapuram. The series will also serve as an early building block towards the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, alongside a high-profile home Test series against Australia.

Looking ahead to the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at home, Prasidh said managing workload and maintaining rhythm over a gruelling five-match series would be crucial, particularly with the World Test Championship (WTC) final in mind.

“I’ve experienced five-match Test series twice now, once in Australia and once in England, and I’ve grown a lot from those experiences. It’s a completely different challenge to stay in rhythm and carry momentum across five games and 25 days of cricket.

“The team is already building towards that challenge. Everyone is in great shape and has the right mindset to take it on. We also know how important the series is in the WTC cycle, so I’m really looking forward to it,” he added.

Having spent considerable time on the sidelines recovering from injuries, including a lower-back stress fracture that required surgery, the tall fast bowler also reflected on the mental resilience needed during lengthy rehabilitation periods.

“Being injured and unable to take part in the cricket that’s going on is difficult for anyone. The rehab journey is gruelling because you have to do the same things again and again. That’s where the team and sports science staff become really important.

“The people around you are also crucial, so surrounding yourself with good people, especially family and friends, is very important. Beyond that, it comes down to how badly you want things to go the way you want them to.

“It’s easy to sit back and say, ‘I was injured, I couldn’t do much, and it will take time to come back.’ But you also need that mental resilience to get up and get going. I always tell myself that if I was at a certain level when I got injured, I need to be ten times better when I come back. That mindset is really important,” he concluded.