.png){kind=small}
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
4 days ago
6
ARTICLE AD BOX
IPL 2025 Eliminator: Tom Moody slammed Shubman Gill's decision to use Prasidh Krishna with the new ball to MI openers. (BCCI)
In the absence of Kagiso Rabada, Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill entrusted his leading wicket-taker Prasidh Krishna to move up to open the bowling alongside Mohammed Siraj in the IPL 2025 Eliminator match against Mumbai Indians. The move backfired heavily as Prasidh’s natural back-of-a-length deliveries fed into the strengths of MI’s veteran opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow.
Save for Siraj’s opening over that conceded only six runs, the MI openers racked up more than 10 runs in every over of the Powerplay, with Prasidh’s second over costing 26 runs. Playing his first game of the season after being roped in as a temporary replacement signing by Mumbai, Bairstow unravelled the tall GT pacer’s short lengths with three sixes anf two fours in the over as MI waltzed to 79 for no loss in the Powerplay.
Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody called out the tactical blunder from GT skipper Gill as he decided to push a natural middle-overs bowler, Prasidh, to operate with the new ball.
“Opening the bowling with Prasidh Krishna was a tactical error. He has spent a majority of the season as an impact bowler in the middle phase of the game. There’s only been two occasions when he has bowled two (overs) in the powerplay in the whole season. He’s been most effective with that hard lengths in the middle phase where he’s got the protection out there square of the wicket,” Moody said in an ESPNcricinfo interaction.
Despite dismissing Rohit on 81 in his death-overs spell, Krishna was GT’s most expensive bowler (2/53) as Mumbai registered the highest-ever IPL total at the Mullanpur Stadium.
“To expose him to two players like Rohit Sharma and Jonny Bairstow, who love that back of the length line, they can get back and pivot and pull the ball comfortably, it’s right in their wheelhouse… [They could have tried] left-arm spin early on. With Washington Sundar coming in, it would have made a lot of sense and would have been something they [MI openers] possibly wouldn’t have been expecting.”
The Karnataka pacer, however, topped the Purple Cap charts with 25 wickets in 15 games this season.
English (US) ·