Ind vs Eng: Could have bowled better, but credit goes to visitors, says Prasidh

After suffering a six-wicket loss against England in the second ODI of the three-match series here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, India pacer Prasidh Krishna on Friday said that his side could have bowled better, but at the end of the day the credit needs to be given to the visitors.

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes played knocks of 124 and 99 respectively as England defeated Virat Kohli-led India by six wickets with 39 balls to spare in the second ODI to level the three-match series 1-1. The decider will now be played on Sunday. Chasing 337, England did not break a sweat as Stokes and Bairstow shared a 175-run stand for the second wicket. The partnership saw the left-handed Stokes taking a special liking to spinners Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav.

"We did have our plans and we talk about how we wanted to execute things. I want to say that we tried our best, there were a couple of chances that could have gone our way, but we must give credit to them for the way they played and came after our bowlers. Yeah, 100 per cent, there is room for improvement. Just like I said, we could have bowled better, I am not denying the fact, but we need to give credit to England," said Prasidh during a post-match press conference on Friday.

"There was an onslaught, that's the game of cricket, with four fielders just being allowed for 10-40 overs, that can happen. We are going to come back strongly. Our execution could have been better, here I am talking about myself. Yes, we did make mistakes and we could have done better, but they batted very well," he added.

Talking about his own bowling in his last two ODIs, Prasidh said: "Personally I would like to start better. I would want to improve on bowling with the new ball. I think I would go back and work on such things."

"It was a very good wicket to bat on, the score says it all, we scored 330 odd and they chased it down in the 44th over. It says it all, it was a flat wicket," he added.

In the 26th over of England's chase, Stokes had punched the ball through mid-wicket and he was looking for two runs, but he was a bit casual while coming back for the second and Kuldeep was able to register a direct-hit. The replays showed that there was nothing behind the line, but the third umpire suggested that there is nothing conclusive and he deemed it 'not-out.

Answering about this umpiring decision, Prasidh said: "We are not the ones to make the decision, the right person was sitting there and whatever he did, we are nobody to comment on that."

Earlier, riding on the platform set by centurion KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, India scored 63 runs in the last five overs to finish on 336/6 in the allotted 50 overs. While Rahul hit a classy 108 off 114 balls, it was all about brutal power for Pant as he hit a 40-ball 77 with seven hits out of the park.

India was placed comfortably at 210/3 after the completion of 40 overs. But the duo ensured that the hosts hit overdrive mode and picked 126 runs in the last 10 as the England bowlers had no clue on the length to bowl.

( With inputs from ANI )