India skipper Rohit Sharma said he is not ready to lose faith in Prasidh Krishna's ability to withstand the rigours of five-day cricket despite his lacklustre debut in the opening Test against South Africa.
Krishna was hammered for 93 runs in 20 overs on debut during the Centurion Test which India lost by an innings and 32 runs.
"We had brief chat with management as to what we want from this game from bowlers, we haven't exactly finalized our eleven, all our players are fit and available. We will sit down and decide," Rohit said when asked about potential changes and whether Mukesh Kumar has a chance to play.
It seemed he wants to persist with Prasidh, who is not exactly known for his economy rate and has been leaking runs across formats.
"Having said that I know we have a little bit of inexperience in bowling and when that happens, you got to show trust in them. That can happen with any team. Post last match, I said about Prasidh playing his first game. We all get nervous when you are playing your first game. It's understandable.
"But I'll still back that thought of mine, that he's got good ability to succeed at this level and especially in this format. So it's just about showing faith and trust in everyone and getting the job done from them."
Shardul's injury scare
While Rohit said that every player is fit and available for the second Test, including Ravindra Jadeja, who has completely recovered from back spasms, it seemed that all-rounder Shardul Thakur has some ankle issue as he hasn't bowled for last couple of sessions.
Thakur, who was seen walking with a slight limp, had sustained a blow on his left shoulder while batting. He recovered from it and batted on Monday at the centre wicket at net. However both on Monday and Tuesday, he didn't bowl a single delivery.
Pitch looks similar to Centurion
The India skipper feels that pace and bounce at Newlands will be similar to Centurion but the heat here will be a factor.
"Pitch looks similar to what we had in Centurion. May be not so much grass (on Supersport Park track) but enough covering of grass but overhead conditions will matter as it is very hot compared to Centurion.
"In 2021, I wasn't here (because of injury) but guys who were here, told me it was similar conditions, we know exactly what needs to be done. Based on how pitch is, we got to respond to that."
Iyer, Gill need to figure out ways to score
Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill's inability to tackle excess bounce has been talked about but Rohit believes they have to find ways to succeed as that confidence of doing well in adverse situation will help them in future.
"These three guys (including Yashasvi Jaiswal) haven't played a lot of cricket but have been around the team for number of years and you have to find the positivity to take the game to next level. When you score against a team like that, it gives you a lot of confidence to go ahead in your career," the skipper said.
"At some stage, we all have faced situations like this, opposition like this and we all have done it. For them, they will learn a lot and tomorrow will be another opportunity to learn what is required, it’s not going to be easy."
Rohit also backed Gill to excel at No.3, his preferred position to bat in Test cricket.
"Gill is very smart and he understands his batting well. He prefers that number as he batted a fair bit in Ranji Trophy in that slot and opened in ODIs, that was his preference and he feels he can do well for us batting in that position."
