World Cup 2023: Why India replaced Hardik Pandya with Prasidh Krishna? Rahul Dravid explains

On the eve of India’s blockbuster ICC World Cup clash against South Africa in Kolkata, head coach Rahul Dravid explained the rationale behind naming seamer Prasidh Krishna as all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s replacement. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table Pandya was on Saturday ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup with an ankle injury, which he suffered three deliveries into his first over in India’s match against Bangladesh in Pune. “After Hardik has been injured, we have played with three quicks. In reserves, we had backup for Spin and all rounder but needed a back up for fast bowler,” Dravid added.

The former India captain, however, admitted India will not have the luxury of a sixth bowling option in the remainder of their campaign. “Yes, we will not be in a position to have sixth bowling option. But we have a wrong footed inswinging bowler, who can bowl few overs. In fact we were close to giving him (Kohli) an over last game. Crowd wanted that too. Surya can bowl, so can Rohit,” Dravid added. Dravid claimed Virat Kohli was not thinking about his 49th ODI hundred or his birthday at all. Indian fans will also be eagerly waiting for Kohli to score the century that will take him level with Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar for more centuries in the format. “Virat Kohli is certainly not thinking about No 49 or No 50. Very relaxed and certainly not thinking about birthday and turning an year older,” Dravid told reporters in pre-match press conference in Kolkata. India and South Africa have been two of the most consistent teams in the World Cup so far and the upcoming clash between the two sides, at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Sunday is expected to decide which side finish on top of the table at the end of the league stage. Dravid also heaped praise on spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, whose contributions in the ongoing World Cup have been important but have largely gone unnoticed. Especially the manner in which the Indian pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have demolished opposition batting lineups. “It’s been exceptional. I think, you know, Jadeja, someone, if you look at the numbers, we look at stats, we look at data, we look at it quite a lot. I mean, he has been exceptional in this tournament,” Dravid said when asked about someone like Jadeja’s contribution. “Because of how good our seamers have been and how fantastic it has been to watch them upfront, the performances of people like Jaddu (Jadeja) and Kuldeep (Yadav) have probably gone slightly unnoticed,” said Dravid as he tried to put things in context. Not only has Jadeja taken nine wickets so far at an economy under four (3.78), he also has scored a couple of vital knocks including an unbeaten 39 against New Zealand that helped finish the game for India, and a whirlwind 35 against Sri Lanka. “He’s (Jadeja) just come in and played critical knocks. Even the last one, he was able to really give us that little bit of a flip, a nice little 30 there. And so that’s really good. And then his fielding is incredible, to have someone like him at point and taking some of the catches that he has. So really great all-around package for us, and someone who’s really had a fantastic tournament. A little bit, maybe, gone under the radar a bit,” the coach added. Dravid was also pleased with middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav’s gritty 49 against England on a tough batting wicket at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium on Sunday. “You’ve got to keep evolving. You’ve got to keep getting better. And the more kinds of situations he (Surya) finds himself in and he comes out of it, like he did really well against England, the better he’s going to get at it,” Dravid said about ‘Mr 360’.