Prasidh Krishna takes all blame for India's five-wicket defeat against England, says 'I take complete responsibility about it'

India's pace bowler Prasidh Krishna, who faced criticism for his performance in the first Test against England, has admitted that his bowling wasn't up to the mark in the series opener, particularly his inability to consistently bowl at the desired lengths.

I definitely did not bowl the lengths that I wanted to: Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna took 'complete responsibility' for this aspect of his bowling during the match, which India ultimately lost by five wickets in Leeds. Despite the criticism, the 29-year-old maintained that his intention throughout the game was to bowl economically and keep the scoring down. However he also vowed to do it better in the upcoming Test.

"I definitely did not bowl the lengths that I wanted to. It took me some time to get used to the slope on that side. No reasons, but I should be able to do it as a professional. I take complete responsibility about it, and maybe, do it better next time," Prasidh said at a press conference.

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Some former players had expressed strong disapproval of his performance after he conceded over 200 runs in the series opener. Reflecting on his bowling, Prasidh noted that in the first innings, he bowled slightly shorter than his intended length, with 6-8 meters being the ideal zone. He felt that his second innings performance showed some improvement, partly because the pitch had become slightly slower, requiring him to adjust his length, pitching some deliveries slightly behind the 8-meter mark and going fuller when attempting to take wickets.

"Every time I come out to bowl, I was definitely looking to bowl a maiden. I am not really trying to give away boundaries or anything. The outfield was fast. The lengths, lines that I bowled was not perfect, to be honest, at most times. And they took me on. Some of them were edges. Some of them, I tried bowling bouncers. But I ended up giving runs. But definitely, every time I come out to bowl, I was looking to keep the economy rate down and build the pressure up," he further added.

Going by a report in Indian Express, India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah might miss the second Test against England, which is set to kick off from July 2. If that happens, a big responsibility will rest on Prasidh's shoulder to deliver for India, especially when they are trailing the five-match series 0-1.