Seeking more time to gain fitness, is Prasidh Krishna running out of time as ICC World Cup 2023 contender?

The cricketing fraternity is waiting with bated breath for Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to return to action from his stress fracture. But, amidst concerns about Bumrah and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer's injury, a man who has slipped out of the radar is Karnataka pacer Prasidh Krishna, who has now been sidelined from competitive cricket for six months.

And, if people in the know-how of developments are to be accepted, he is running out of time and matches through which he can again be a potential contender for an ICC World Cup 20-2023 berth. Prasidh, being looked upon as one of India's possible white ball experts, last played versus Zimbabwe in a One-Day International (ODI) in Harare in August 2022 and since then has been out due to a stress fracture.

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Before the injury, he had a fantastic haul of 25 wickets from 14 ODIs at an economy of below 5.50 (5.32) and an average (runs per wicket) of lesser than 24 (23.92). Prasidh has been doing his severe rehabilitation program at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, but the news isn't great.

"Prasidh has a stress fracture, and in the case of this particular form of injury, you cannot put a date on the prospective comeback. Every player has a different body type, and the recovery process and time would differ. It could be anything between six months to one year. In the case of Prasidh, he is still not fit enough to return to play, and, unfortunately, he missed the entire domestic season," a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) source privy to the development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

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With Karnataka unlikely to reach the final of the Ranji Trophy, Prasidh's chances of testing himself are now limited to the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he plays for former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR). But to play in IPL, he must regularly start bowling in the nets and put miles on his legs to withstand the rigours of top-flight cricket.

It would be miserable if Prasidh missed the CWC bus, but at this point, there is a looming danger of it happening. When he got injured, he was ahead of pacer Mohammed Siraj in the pecking order with his pace and disconcerting bounce, but he will be racing against time to get fit during the IPL, which will provide him with an outside chance of being in the CWC contention.

(With inputs from PTI)