NEW DELHI: The Indian dressing room was all smiles as Prasidh Krishna let the ball do the talking when Australia began their chase on Day 3 of the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh stepped up and delivered just as Bumrah is known to — making crucial early breakthroughs for his team.
The Karnataka pacer dismissed Sam Konstas (22), Marnus Labuschagne (6), and Steve Smith (4) in quick succession. However, Bumrah’s absence due to back spasms looms large, as India are without a third specialist pacer.
Prasidh’s dismissal of Labuschagne was followed by a significant scalp—Steve Smith, who fell just one run short of reaching 10,000 Test runs. Prasidh bowled a sharp, rising delivery that Smith awkwardly fended to gully, where Yashasvi Jaiswal dived forward to complete a brilliant catch.
The stunning effort from Jaiswal charged up Rohit Sharma, who was seen leaping out of his seat in celebration in the dressing room.
Meanwhile, Rohit, addressing retirement rumors on Saturday, clarified his decision to step aside for the SCG Test.
“I have not retired. I stood down, that is what I would say. Basically, the chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple. That I am not able to score runs, there is no form, it is an important match, and we need a player with form. As it is, in our batting, the form of the boys is not that good,” Rohit told Star Sports.
“So you cannot carry a lot of out-of-form players in the team. This simple thing was going on in my mind. I am not going anywhere. That is why I wanted to tell the coach and the selector that this is what is going on in my mind.
“They backed my decision. They said that you have been playing for so many years. You know what you are doing. So for me, it was difficult to take this decision. But if everything is kept in front, then this decision was sensible. I will not think much further,” he added.
