The spell that broke Mumbai Indians: Prasidh Krishna’s game-changing bowling

Prasidh Krishna didn’t simply comply with the bowling template in Ahmedabad — he perfected it. On a difficult black-soil pitch, his spell of two/18 strangled Mumbai Indians, shutting the door on its chase and incomes him his first Indian Premier League (IPL) ‘Participant of the Match’ award on Saturday.

The 29-year-old pacer’s strategy wasn’t random. He had been watching intently from the dugout, noting how Hardik Pandya had stifled Gujarat Titans’ innings earlier within the match. Hardik relied largely on his slower variations – 16 off his 24 deliveries had been off-cutters – as he conceded simply 29 runs whereas taking two wickets.

So, by the point Prasidh was launched within the twelfth over, he knew precisely what would work.

“We had been sitting and watching how the primary innings went. Cutters into the wicket had been doing effectively, and the plan was to verify I exploit these lengths,” Prasidh mentioned after the match. “I simply figured that was working, so didn’t wish to take a look at the velocity gun.”

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Prasidh executed the plan flawlessly. In his first three overs, he conceded simply eight runs, suffocating MI’s chase. The one two boundaries he allowed got here within the final over when the sport was already sealed.

What made his spell stand out was his exact use of variations. He bowled 11 off-cutters, conceding solely eight runs off them. His self-discipline compelled MI’s finest batters — Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma — into errors.

Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav reacts after his dismissal by Gujarat Titans’ Prasidh Krishna throughout an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, on the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Saturday, March 29, 2025.
| Photograph Credit score:
PTI

Tilak was the primary to fall after he tried to slog a widish off-cutter solely to be caught at lengthy on. In opposition to Suryakumar, he bowled completely exterior off, slicing off his sturdy zone on the leg facet. The ploy labored because the batter mistimed a slower ball to the deep.

He was even meaner in opposition to Hardik, conceding simply 4 runs from eight deliveries, protecting a good line to disclaim him any room.

Identical to Hardik, Prasidh shunned pitching the ball up, permitting it to grip on a floor providing variable bounce. Whereas Hardik bowled three full-length deliveries, the Titans pacer delivered simply two.

The impression was so vital that Gujarat barely wanted Rashid Khan — he bowled simply two overs, the fewest in an IPL match the place his staff accomplished its quota.

Shubman Gill acknowledged Prasidh’s game-changing efficiency. “He did a fairly superb job for us. Within the first three overs, he gave simply eight runs. In a T20 sport when the opposition is chasing 200, the match is sort of performed there,” the Titans skipper mentioned.

Gujarat Titans’ Prasidh Krishna, heart, celebrates with captain Shubman Gill, proper, and Mohammed Siraj after taking the wicket of Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav throughout an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 T20 cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians, on the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Saturday, March 29, 2025.
| Photograph Credit score:
PTI

Prasidh admitted he wasn’t used to ready that lengthy in a T20 match to bowl however was blissful to ship on the essential second.

“I don’t actually have any phrases proper now,” he mentioned after receiving the Participant of the Match trophy. “It was the tenth over, and I believed that I had not waited so lengthy to bowl (in a T20 sport), nevertheless it paid off in the long run.”