India vs South Africa: Rohit Sharma backs Prasidh Krishna's 'ability to succeed' in Test cricket

India skipper Rohit Sharma came to Prasidh Krishna’s support ahead of the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town, saying the under-fire pacer has the “ability to succeed” in the most elite form of the sport.

While Prasidh dismissed South Africa batter Kyle Verrynne on Test debut at Centurion’s SuperSport Park, he ended up conceding 93 runs at over four-an-over.

Read | You need to be more creative, Allan Donald tells Indian pacers

“I still have faith in Prasidh Krishna and believe he has ability to succeed at this level,” Rohit told reporters in Cape Town on the eve of the second Test.

Both the Karnataka pacer and all-rounder Shardul Thakur (1/105) proved expensive as the Proteas, led by Dean Elgar’s magnificent 185, recovered from a shaky start to post 408 on the board.

They would eventually go 1-0 in the series with an innings and 32-run victory, and will be eyeing a 2-0 sweep heading into the final match of India’s tour that gets underway at the Newlands on Wednesday.

IND vs SA: Revisiting Team India’s record at Cape Town’s Newlands

The India skipper also backed Shubman Gill to continue batting at the No 3 spot in the Test side despite having originally started as Rohit’s batting partner. Gill had to shift down to the position that had previously been occupied by veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara to accommodate Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order.

“Shubman Gill prefers to bat at No. 3 and he feels he can do well for us batting at that position. I personally hated batting at No 3,” Rohit, who himself is under pressure after scoring 5 and 0 at Centurion, added.

Read | Kohli simulates countering Burger, Iyer faces short ball barrage ahead of 2nd Test

Gill, who began batting at one-down during the tour of the Caribbean last July, was dismissed cheaply in the first innings at the SuperSport Park, departing for 2. The 23-year-old, however, looked a lot more positive in the second innings in which he was one of the two batters alongside Virat Kohli (76) to enter double figures with a knock of 26.

Like Gill, opener Jaiswal and middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer too got off to starts in either innings but weren’t able to convert them into bigger scores the way KL Rahul (101) and Kohli did. Rohit, however, felt they weren’t too familiar with South African conditions and would be a lot better equipped in the subsequent fixtures.

“These three guys (Gill, Jaiswal and Iyer) haven’t played a lot in South Africa but been part of the team for number of years. When you perform against a team like Proteas, it gives you tremendous confidence,” the ‘Hitman’ added.

As for the Newlands wicket on which the two sides will lock horns one last time in the ongoing tour, Rohit felt it “looks quite similar to Centurion” but with slightly less grass cover.