“They called him a fake bowler” – Former India opener lambasts trolls after Prasidh Krishna’s spell in IND vs SA 2025 3rd ODI

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has lambasted trolls who abused Prasidh Krishna during the third ODI against South Africa. He noted that the lanky seamer was even called a fake bowler when he proved expensive at the start of his spell.

Krishna registered figures of 4/66 in 9.5 overs as India bowled South Africa out for 270 in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, December 6. The Men in Blue then achieved the target with nine wickets and 10.1 overs to spare, clinching the series 2-1.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter opined that Krishna is trolled wrongly, highlighting that the seamer has decent ODI numbers.

“When the innings started, Prasidh Krishna had conceded a lot of runs in his first two overs. The Indian fast bowlers, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, had started very well, but runs were scored as soon as Prasidh Krishna came, and everyone abused him a lot,” Chopra said. (6:00)

“They called him a fake bowler, asking everyone to see how many runs he concedes and how he was playing. Very quick to judge. I said at that stage that we should take out his ODI numbers and see why people are abusing him so much. I saw that his numbers don’t look that bad. Maybe a tad expensive, but a lot of runs are scored these days, and he is a wicket-taker as well,” he added.

Chopra noted that the Karnataka seamer hasn’t fared too badly in T20Is either.

“I said we should take out the T20I numbers. He might have got hit there and people might be angrier because of that. I didn’t see those numbers very bad either. So I wonder why people are after him so much. That’s what happens these days. An atmosphere is created on social media, and after that, we go after somebody,” he observed.

Prasidh Krishna has picked up 37 wickets at an economy rate of 6.02 in 21 ODIs. He has accounted for eight dismissals at an economy rate of 11.00 in five T20Is.

“Prasidh Krishna took the difficult wickets” – Aakash Chopra lauds seamer’s spell in IND vs SA 2025 3rd ODI

While observing that Kuldeep Yadav also took a four-wicket haul, Aakash Chopra opined that Prasidh Krishna picked up the difficult wickets.

“Although Kuldeep Yadav took four wickets, Prasidh Krishna took the difficult wickets. The twin wickets he took, he is the one who actually took the game in India’s favour, and eventually he finished his spell with four wickets,” he said. (6:45)

While acknowledging that Krishna isn’t a finished product yet, the cricketer-turned-commentator urged fans not to be too harsh on him.

“This Krishna will become Prasidh. There is no doubt about that. I am not saying he is a finished product, and I am not even saying that there is no better bowler than him in the world, but a little patience needs to be shown. We judge very quickly and become extremely harsh. We won’t be that harsh with our brother or friend,” Chopra observed.

Prasidh Krishna dismissed Matthew Breetzke (24 off 23) and Aiden Markram (1 off 3), the last game’s centurion, in the same over when South Africa seemed to be comfortably placed at 168/2 after 28.1 overs. He then accounted for the crucial wicket of Quinton de Kock (106 off 89) before castling Ottneil Baartman (3 off 7) to complete his four-wicket haul.