The day Prasidh Krishna made his first-class debut nearly a decade ago, everyone at the University of Mysore grounds knew the Bengaluru boy was too big for a small city.
And the fact that he delivered on those expectations by making his India debut a couple of years ago only reiterated what some witnessed at the quaint venue already knew. Prasidh - with his pace and angles and bounce and tact at such a young age - was going to be the future.
The Indian management fast-tracked the pacer as he featured in 14 One-Day Internationals. He came away from that experience with 25 wickets at an average of 23.92 and an economy of 5.32.
And then… “It was all quite sudden,” Prasidh tells DH. “It was a precautionary scan after the series against Zimbabwe where I found out that I had a lumbar stress fracture,”.
This revelation came in August 2022, and since then, the 27-year-old has missed an entire year of competitive cricket, which included being left out of India A’s white-ball series against New Zealand, the Ranji Trophy knockouts and the Indian Premier League
“I wasn’t surprised because I knew this is part of being an athlete, but it began getting worse because I was coming to bed feeling not so good. And each time I bowled, I would be in pain for two-three days at a stretch. That’s when I started asking questions about my body and if it was going to get better,” he says.
Subsequently, Prasidh, after consultation with a whole host of doctors, decided to get the surgery done. Perhaps not the easiest decision to make when you’re as young, but the Karnataka pacer insists he was quick to the decision. “I was not really afraid, and it didn’t take me much time to say yes to the surgery. I didn’t want a recurring problem. I knew I was going to miss out on a lot of cricket but I was willing to take that chance so I could come back better,” he says when asked if he was apprehensive at all.
“I trusted my people so there was no negativity at any moment,” he adds.
Prasidh reveals that he was monitored extensively to ensure he stuck to the process, and while tedious, he had a bigger picture in front of him at all times.
“I had already felt the pain before the surgery,” he explains. “…and because of that, I knew what the pain would feel like after the surgery if that makes sense. I realised a while ago that the entire process would be a gradual one, and decided that I would only bowl when I was absolutely sure.”
That moment came when he returned to competitive cricket a few days ago with the Mount Joy Cricket Club in the KSCA T20 tournament. Although he had played a friendly against Mumbai a day ago, this was different.
“More than the four wickets I picked up, it was about being part of a competitive game,” he notes. “This was about deliveries having meaning. You don’t feel that way in friendly games. The pressure, the time to switch on and strategise. It’s all so exciting,”
On the day of his competitive return, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that he was going to be part of the Indian team for the Twenty20 International series against Ireland.
Prasidh hasn’t made his T20I debut yet, but he is most likely going to for there are only so many games/ days left before India decide their squad for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. That then will give a glimpse at what sort of squad India will have going into the 50-over World Cup at home.
Prasidh isn’t looking that far ahead though. “When you don’t bowl for long, your body makes some changes in the way you run, the way you load up, your free arm, your release and other such things, but as an international bowler you should know how to get it all back into rhythm. Now that the injury is completely behind me, that’s the only focus,” he says before adding ‘one day at a time’ for good measure.