IND vs ENG 5th Test | New pace trio’s bold mantra: ‘Watch out for each other’

London:Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna were inseparable when they played for Gujarat Titans in the IPL this year. From the breakfast table to getting back to the team hotel after a match or a training session, they would always be seen together.

It wasn’t just about having a good time together. They bonded over discussions about fast bowling too.Both of them went into the IPL with question marks over their efficacy as Test match bowlers. On Friday, when the duo bowled in tandem to erode the England batting lineup and script a stellar comeback for India in the final Test, Siraj and Krishna assured the selectors and the team management that they are capable of carrying the team’s fastbowling responsibilities.

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Siraj and Krishna have worked on building a partnership as fast bowlers. Now, they have got Akash Deep to form a stable trio of pacers. The lunch break on the second day at Oval on Friday could prove a defining 40 minutes for the future of India’s fast-bowling resources.The Indian team headed to the dressing room stunned and deeply hurt by the ruthless onslaught by Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.The pace trio decided to work on a plan all by themselves.

“We got together in a small corner and discussed what we needed to be doing. We decided every time we are at the top of the mark, we will trust each other. We need to go to speak to each other, ask if we are on the right track. It was all on us to bring our mate back on track and just make sure we are bowling the right lines and take it from there,” Prasidh Krishna told reporters.

Conversations around fast bowling often get lost in discussing the right areas, seam, swing and pace.

Siraj, Krishna and Akash focused on the human element. They needed to be in a good space to turn things around. “We spoke about showing some body language (sic) for the next two-three hours, it would make a big difference. And it did,” Krishna said.There was some needling initiated by the Indian pacers. It couldn’t have been one-way traffic with the English batters running away with the game. It induced an unusual reaction from Joe Root.

The plan was working. If Siraj homed in on the stumps with full and swinging deliveries, Krishna backed his strength of hitting the deck hard and moving the ball off the seam.This trio has already delivered once in this series, taking 20 wickets at Edgbaston for the only win so far on the tour. The uncertainty around Jasprit Bumrah’s availability has meant they never had a run together to settle down as a pace attack, a departure from the process that helped India build the world-beating pace attack of Ishant Sharma, Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav seven years ago.

The Bumrah scenario means that the one among the three — maybe the one with a comparatively weaker game — will always have to make way for Bumrah. “All of the fast bowlers have spent a lot of time with each other on and off the field. We know what each one has to be doing when their chance comes up. Irrespective of Bumrah playing, we know what our roles are. When he’s not there, I know what challenge it is to step up every single time you have the ball in your hand,” Krishna said.There is a reason why captain Shubman Gill, who is also the captain of the Gujarat Titans, is more comfortable with having Siraj and Krishna in the XI. Krishna copped a lot of criticism for leaking runs in the earlier half of this series. Even bowling coach Morne Morkel distanced himself from Krishna’s plans to resort to the short-ball plan at Headingley and Edgbaston.“I’m definitely being backed by the dressing room or whatever. Me not playing the last two games also enables me to go back to the drawing board and do what I have been doing in a better way,” said Krishna.The Indian selectors are concerned about replenishing the fast-bowling pool for Test cricket. A lot will depend on the trio to close out this Test and establish their place in India’s Test scheme of things.