Prasidh Krishna's request for a ball change denied by umpires during 2nd unofficial Test between India A and Australia A
India A pacer Prasidh Krishna saw his request for a change in ball denied by the on-field umpires on Day 2 of the second unofficial Test against Australia A as the tampering scandal lingers. The right-arm bowler had expressed his displeasure over the state of the ball to umpire Gerard Abood midway through the proceedings at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
During the 28th over of the Australia A's innings, Prasidh Krishna requested a ball change citing mud on the seam, and was left unhappy when he was told to continue with the same red cherry. The denial charged up the pacer, as he proceeded to throw the ball back at batter Marcus Harris after it was defended back to him. The flare up cost India A two runs as overthrows.
“They’re talking about a bit of potential mud on the ball; making sure it’s okay to get it out of the seam. I’m not sure if it’s an aesthetics thing. 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," former Australia cricketer Rob Quiney remarked on air.
The Karnataka pacer's tour of Australia has been eventful so far as he followed up his prolific outing in the first unofficial Test in Mackay with a four-fer in Melbourne. He finished with figures of 4-50 as Australia A were bowled out for 223 in the first innings.
Umpires have been in the spotlight during the series between India 'A' and Australia 'A'
The request for the ball to be changed comes after the ball-tampering saga from the preceding clash. On that occasion, the umpires had changed the ball ahead of Day 4 citing damage, which left the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side fuming.
The umpires also did not help themselves when an appeal for a caught dismissal against Marcus Harris was turned down. Off-spinner Tanush Kotian had got the ball to spin away from the left-handed batter, with the ball making contact with the outside edge in the process and making its way to slip.
Despite a vociferous appeal by the Indians, who had in fact even begun celebrating the dismissal, the umpires remained unmoved. The opening batter was batting on 48 at the time, and went on to get 26 runs more, ending as the highest run-scorer for his side in the innings.
There was no DRS facility for the encounter, meaning that the visitors could not use the provision to get the decision overturned.