Venkatesh Prasad

Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad (pronunciation ; born 5 August 1969),[1] is a former Indian cricketer, who played Tests and ODIs. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling combination with Javagal Srinath.

Venkatesh Prasad
Personal information
Full nameBapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad
Born (1969-08-05) 5 August 1969
Bangalore, Mysore State, India
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 204)7 June 1996 v England
Last Test29 August 2001 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut (cap 89)2 April 1994 v New Zealand
Last ODI17 October 2001 v Kenya
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1991–2003Karnataka
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 33 161 123 236
Runs scored 203 221 892 304
Batting average 7.51 6.90 10.02 6.46
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 30* 19 37 20
Balls bowled 7,041 8,129 22,222 11,951
Wickets 96 196 361 295
Bowling average 35.00 32.30 27.75 29.72
5 wickets in innings 7 1 18 2
10 wickets in match 1 0 3 0
Best bowling 6/33 5/27 7/37 6/18
Catches/stumpings 6/– 37/– 75/– 56/–
Source: CricketArchive, 2 September 2017

He is the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, having formerly performed the same role for the Indian cricket team from 2007 to 2009.

International career

Prasad took 96 wickets from 33 Tests at an average of 35, and 196 wickets from 161 ODIs at an average of 32.30. Prasad was more effective on wickets that helped seam bowling even though his best Test bowling figures of 6 for 33, achieved against Pakistan in the 1999 Test series in India, came on a docile pitch in Chennai; these figures included a spell of bowling in which he took 5 wickets for 0 runs. Notably, he once took 10 wickets in a Test match in Durban, South Africa, in December 1996. It remains his only ten-wicket haul in Test cricket. Prasad also took five-wicket hauls in England, in 1996, in Sri Lanka, in 2001, and in the West Indies, in 1997. In the 1996/97 season, he took 55 wickets in 15 Tests and 48 wickets in 30 ODIs. For the period, he was named the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year.[2] He received the Arjuna Award in 2000. [3]

Prasad played his final Test match in Sri Lanka in 2001. One of his finest moments came in 1996 Cricket World Cup when after being hit for a boundary and openly sledged by Pakistan batsman Aamir Sohail, Prasad clean bowled Sohail on the very next ball, (which many consider the turning point of the match). Prasad was known for his slower deliveries and was one of its first proponents in world cricket.[4] Venkatesh Prasad shares a world record with 8 others for the highest batting strike rate in ODI innings.

Injury and late career

Prasad struggled with injuries and dipping form towards the end of his career. He was dropped from the Indian team after the 2001 test series in Sri Lanka. Prasad tried unsuccessfully to make a comeback after that before retiring from all forms of cricket in May 2005, having secured two Ranji Trophy championships with Karnataka. He was made coach of the India Under-19 Cricket team in January. He was the coach of the U-19 team that finished runners-up in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup.

Coaching career

After the disappointing performance of the Indian Team in World Cup 2007, Prasad was appointed as the bowling coach of the team for the Bangladesh Tour in May. It was his return to the Indian team after a span of 3 years. On 15 October 2009, Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh were sacked by the BCCI, which did not give any reasons for the unceremonious dumping.[5]

He was appointed as bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab. He was also the coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore during their inaugural season in 2008.

Personal life

His mother tongue is Kannada.[6] Prasad is married to Jayanthi.[7]

References
  1. "Cricinfo - Players and Officials - Venkatesh Prasad". Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  2. "International Award for Prasad". The Indian Express. 15 June 1997. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. "Venkatesh Prasad Profile". NDTV. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  4. "Times Of India Cricket - Veterans relive Indo-Pak battles". The Times Of India. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  5. "BCCI sacks Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh". Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  6. Giridhar, S.; Raghunath, V. J. (2016). From Mumbai to Durban: India's Greatest Tests. Juggernaut Books. ISBN 978-93-86228-07-9.
  7. Staff (23 January 2008). "Love Stories Of Famous Indian Bowlers". boldsky.com. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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