Haren
India A pacer Prasidh Krishna lost his cool after on-field umpires denied his request to change the ball on Day 2 of the second unofficial Test against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
In the 28th over of Australia A’s innings, Krishna, dissatisfied with the condition of the ball, approached umpire Gerard Abood to request a change. However, Abood, undeterred by Krishna’s concerns, signaled for play to continue.
Former Australian cricketer Rob Quiney, on air, noted that the India A seamer looked “unhappy.”
“They’re talking about a bit of potential mud on the ball; making sure it’s okay to get it out of the seam,” Quiney observed. “I’m not sure if it’s an aesthetics thing.”
Krishna’s dissatisfaction grew more apparent as the over continued. After Marcus Harris, Australia A’s top scorer, defended the ball back to him on the following delivery, Krishna aggressively threw the ball back towards Harris, resulting in two overthrows.
“It was a bit of frustration, and it was interesting in the buildup to that ball when the ball was given to him … he wanted the umpire to have a second look at it,” Quiney commented.
Krishna was the pick of the bowlers for India A, finishing with figures of 4 for 50. Mukesh Kumar (3/41) and Khaleel Ahmed (2/56) were the other wicket-takers.
For Australia A, Marcus Harris top-scored with a gritty 74, bolstering his case to be Usman Khawaja’s opening partner in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In their second innings, India A were reeling at 73 for 5 at stumps. Dhruv Jurel, who scored a brilliant fifty in the first innings, navigated a tricky passage to guide India A to 73/5 at stumps, with a slender lead of 11.
