‘Smart selection’- Fans react as India hand Prasidh Krishna a debut for Centurion Test

The first Test match between South Africa and India has just got underway at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The home captain, Temba Bavuma won the toss and was elected to bowl first on what is a green track with a lot of moisture underneath. The home team handed caps to David Beddingham and Nandre Burger, two players who have been impressive in the domestic arena. It will be an exceptional occasion for the two of them, especially Burger since he has now received all three caps in the last three weeks.

India too has a debutant, 27-year-old Prasidh Krishna. Krishna, who has already featured in a few white-ball games, becomes the 309th player to represent India in the longest format of the game. He has been picked to bring variety into the attack as he can hit the deck hard and will also be able to extract extra bounce owing to his height. Ahead of the start of the game, he was handed his maiden cap by the Indian vice-captain, Jasprit Bumrah.

While he has played only 17 first-class games, his record is phenomenal. He has a haul of 54 wickets at an average of 17.29 which suggests that he has a brilliant skill-set for the longest format of the game.

‘Krishna’s skill set is more suited to red-ball format’

In the past, several pundits have opined that Krishna’s skill set is more suited to the red-ball format and he will now be looking to prove them right. He is sure to be nervous but he will have the company of Bumrah, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj, who have all played a decent amount of Test cricket.

Apart from this news, captain Rohit Sharma also declared that Ravindra Jadeja missed out on selection due to a neck spasm. As such, Ravichandran Ashwin is the sole spinner on the side. KL Rahul will bat in the middle order. India will be looking to start well as they chase a series win in the Rainbow Nation, something that has eluded them.

Here, we look at how ‘X-verse’ reacted to this news: