Prasanth sparkles in South Africa

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The arrival of the IPL in Kochi was a beacon of hope for several professional cricketers in the State and one amongst them was a Thiruvananthapuram boy, Prasanth Padmanabhan who did well enough at the nets to impress coach Geoff Lawson and get a break against the Rajasthan Royals toward the end of the season.

The left-arm orthodox spinner appeared on screen for just one over that gave away 18 runs and perhaps that also was his final spell for the Tuskers as the team is unlikely to reappear in the mega event.

Now that incident might seem fateful but not quite so for the 26-year-old who has been in tremendous form of late.

Prasanth has been the axial of the Kerala Colts’ performance in their maiden tour of South Africa. The southpaw has been the most successful performer for the visitors. He has gathered 23 wickets in 4 innings, which is outstanding by any margin.

“What can I say, I always tried to bowl in the right areas and I was lucky each time. In fact I am really enjoying bowling here in South Africa, it is a whole new experience,” said Prasanth, just before getting back on the ground for the second innings against the Western Province.

Prasanth was the key behind Kerala first success in Johannesburg where they played county team Highland Strikers.

He came up with impressive figures of 5 for 55 in 22 overs, including 4 maidens in the first innings and was even superb in the second with enviable spells of 7 for 40 that gifted Kerala a big win.

“I must give the credit to Biju sir our coach who put his trust in me and I am happy that I gave him good results,” said Prasanth.

He however, was disappointed to hear about the plight of the Tuskers as he was expecting to put on a better show if he got another chance this season.

“It is quite sad, I don’t know what exactly is going on but I only wish everything gets settled so that once we return we will have a fresh season to look forward to and hopefully a better chance like Parameswaran (Prasanth) had against Delhi,” he said.

It was that one dream-like spell that included the wicket of Sehwag that catapulted Parameswaran alias Puli into the spotlight and his colleague Padmanabhan feels his IPL dream like that of several other promising youngsters has diminished.

However, with this sparkling performance, he is hopeful of making a fabulous comeback in domestic cricket when the Ranji Trophy season begins.

“I will be looking forward to continuing my form in domestic tournaments, we are all so confident now,” said Prasanth before signing off from Cape Town.