“He has to be one of the top bowlers” - Sanjay Bangar’s massive praise for Indian youngster after ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former Indian all-rounder Sanjay Bangar praised pacer Prasidh Krishna for his exploits in the Oval Test that helped the side level the five-match series against England. Despite playing only his sixth Test, the 29-year-old picked up several crucial wickets in both innings to finish with match figures of 8/188. His heroics helped India win by six runs on the final morning at the Oval.

Prasidh struggled for consistency occasionally during the series but finished with 14 wickets in the three matches he played at an average of 37.07.

Talking about the young seamer post the fifth Test on ESPN Cricinfo, Bangar said (6:20)

"He has to be one of the top bowlers India would want to go ahead with overseas. He has actually repaid a lot of faith that has been put on him. Indian cricket has invested a lot in him, he hasn't played too much of first-class cricket. So the way the previous management under Rahul Dravid showed faith in him and groomed him is critical."

He added:

"Because after missing a couple of Test matches, he has gone back and really worked on the things he had to work on and the work was probably revolving around the various lengths he has to bowl and he bowled his normal length and he bowled the fuller length to dismiss Duckett and the yorker to dismiss Tongue as well. So overall, you could clearly sense he would have also gained tremendous confidence from the exploits at the Oval."

Prasidh has picked up 22 wickets in his six Tests with two 4-wicket hauls despite a poor economy of 4.72.

"The Indian team is growing in stature" - Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar believes Team India's stature in world cricket is growing with their successes on England and Australian tours over the past decade. Despite their recent struggles before the 2025 England series, India won twice by 2-1 margins in Australia in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 tours.

They also drew level 2-2 in England in 2021/22, similar to the recently concluded 2025 tour.

"Winning two series in Australia and even in the previous England tour, the scoreline was similar and India was the dominant side with a lead of 2-1 before unfortunately losing the last Test match to become 2-2. So similar results happening on a consistent basis means the Indian team is growing in stature, confidence and in the belief system that they can consistently win overseas and in England," said Bangar (via the aforementioned source).

The 2025 England Test series was India's first after the red-ball retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. It was also Shubman Gill's first assignment as India's Test captain.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran