KL Rahul isn’t surprised by India’s newest pace sensation Prasidh Krishna’s smash-hit international debut as he always felt that it was about time that he would join the ranks of big names from Karnataka, who have already donned national colours. Prasidh, who had made a name for himself with his performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders, took four wickets on his ODI debut against England. 

“Look, quite honestly, I am not surprised with what he (Prasidh) did yesterday (Tuesday). I was always very confident that the next player that is going to come out of Karnataka, is going to be Prasidh,” said the pacer’s state team captain. 

“We weren’t of the same batch, but I have watched him play a lot of junior cricket and in the nets, he is somebody, who will catch your eye,” Rahul said at the virtual press conference, ahead of the second ODI against England. 

The best part according to Rahul is Prasidh’s abiity to bowl quick. 

“(He is a) tall guy (who) bowls quick, gets a lot of bounce from the wicket, and something having played with him in the last couple of seasons for Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Hazare, I realised that he is a brave boy.” 

Rahul is also impressed by his game sense. 

“He has a great sense of the game, it’s not just his skill but how he understands and reads the game. He is a very keen learner and he is, like I said, very brave and comes in with a lot of aggression,” Rahul said. 

Rahul is confident that Prasidh will be a great asset for Indian cricket if he keeps on working hard. 

“We saw in the last game, he was trying to have a word or two with the batsmen and he enjoys being in a contest and that is something I love, about him,” Rahul said. 

“….and I am so happy to see that he is carrying on the same thing and he wasn’t overwhelmed by the place he is in, playing his first game for the country, I am sure there will be lot of nerves but the way he came back after the first three overs, got those crucial wickets, so these are the qualities that a player and as a team, a lot of us are impressed with, what he has done.” 

For Rahul, the manner in which each newcomer has performed in this series can be attributed to consistent show in the domestic cricket for years. 

“I think a huge part is the IPL and the confidence that these boys come in with. And whoever has coming into the team, is not because they have performed in one season of the IPL or one season of first-class cricket but it has been 2-3 years of consistent performances and at whatever level they play, or wherever they play,” said Rahul, who captains the Punjab Kings, in the T20 league. 

But obviously having played all the top English players in IPL did help their performance, Rahul admitted. 

“Obviously, you would have heard Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), Ishan (Kishan) and Krunal (Pandya), in their interviews saying that they have played against most of these guys in the IPL at some point and they know how they go about their games and IPL performances have obviously given them a lot of confidence and they have carried that confidence into playing for their country,” he noted. 

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Rahul also said that the team management also gives confidence to the youngsters. 

“And it is something also the team, the management and the environment here in the Indian team, what we try to do is to give the confidence to youngsters coming in and I feel weird calling them youngsters, because we have seen them for so many years, we have seen them perform and when they come in, we want all the players to continue to do what they are doing,” he signed off.