Manoj Prabhakar (born 15 April 1963) is a former Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

, who recently coached

Nepal National Cricket Team The Nepal national cricket team ( ne, नेपाल राष्ट्रिय क्रिकेट टीम) nicknamed The Rhinos and Gorkhalis, represents the country of Nepal in International cricket and is governed by the Cricket Ass ...

. He was a right-arm medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman, and has also opened the

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

sometimes for the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

until his retirement in 1996. Prabhakar took 96 wickets in

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

, 157 wickets in

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s, and over 385 first class wickets playing for

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. He has also played for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. Prabhakar would always be remembered for his bowling which was his strongest suit; using slower balls, out swingers and opening the bowling for Indian cricket team. He was also a useful lower-order batsman and a defensive opener. Manoj Prabhakar is having a world record of playing most matches as Opening Batsman cum Opening Bowler in both Test and ODI Matches.

Career

As a Player

Prabhakar quite regularly opened Indian batting order and the bowling, he was one of the few players to do so consistently at international level. He accomplished this 45 times in ODIs and 20 times in Tests, more than any other player in both formats. At the age of 32, Prabhakar played his last ODI against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in the

1996 Cricket World Cup The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup 1996 after the Wills Navy Cut brand produced by tournament sponsor ITC, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was the second World Cu ...

. He struggled to bowl well in the match and had to bowl off-spin in the last two overs. The crowd booed him off the ground. After 1996 World Cup, he was not selected for the Indian team's tour of England and took the retirement. MPrabhakarBowling

As a Coach

Prabhakar has also served as the

Delhi cricket team The Delhi cricket team is a first-class cricket team based in Delhi, run by the Delhi District Cricket Association, that plays in India's first class competition, the Ranji Trophy and limited-overs Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Tro ...

's bowling coach and as the head coach of the

Rajasthan cricket team The Rajasthan cricket team is a cricket team which represents the Indian state of Rajasthan. The team won the Ranji Trophy in the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, having finished runners-up eight times between 1960–61 and 1973-74. It is currentl ...

.Prabhakar tipped to become Delhi coach
/ref> In November 2011, he was sacked as the coach of Delhi for speaking against the management and the team in media. In December 2015, he was named as bowling coach of

Afghanistan cricket team The Afghanistan men's national team ( ps, د افغانستان کرکټ ملي لوب‌‌‌‌‌‌ډله, fa, تیم ملی کریکت افغانستان) represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afgha ...

ahead of

2016 ICC World Twenty20 The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC World Twenty20, the world championship of Twenty20 International cricket. It was held in India from 8 March to 3 April 2016, and was the first edition to be hosted by India. Seven ...

that was played in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

in March 2016.

Controversies

In 1999, Prabhakar participated in an expose of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

by the

Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...

news organisation. However, he was then charged by the

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the worl ...

with involvement in match fixing and subsequently banned from playing cricket for the Indian team. In 2011, he was dismissed from his coaching role with the

after he publicly criticized the players and selectors.

Personal life

Prabhakar joined the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

party and unsuccessfully contested election to the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

from Delhi in 1996. Prabhakar is married to actress

Farheen Farheen (born as Farheen Khan; 3 August 1973), also known as Bindiya in the South Indian film industry, is an Indian actress, who has primarily worked in Bollywood, Kannada cinema and Tamil cinema. She made her debut with ''Jaan Tere Naam'' opp ...

, who is known for her roles in the films ''

Jaan Tere Naam ''Jaan Tere Naam'' is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Deepak Balraj Vij and produced by Jimmy Nirula. It stars Ronit Roy and Farheen. It was the screen debut for both Ronit Roy and Farheen. The plot revolve ...

'' and ''

Kalaignan ''Kalaignan'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language thriller film written and directed by G. B. Vijay and produced by Ramkumar Ganesan. It stars Kamal Haasan and Farheen while Sivaranjani, Sindhuja, Nirmalamma and Chi. Guru Dutt play supporting ro ...

''. The couple lives in Delhi, with their two sons, Raahil Prabhakar and Manavansh Prabhakar, and also Rohan Prabhakar, a son from previous marriage with Sandhya.

In popular culture

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film '' Azhar'' released in 2016, directed by Tony D'Souza, was based on his teammate

Mohammad Azharuddin Mohammad Azharuddin (born 8 February 1963) is an Indian politician and a former international cricketer and former captain of India national cricket team. He is the working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and was the Memb ...

life and revolves around Match fixing scandals in late 90s and 2000. Prabhakar's character was portrayed by

Karanvir Sharma Karanvir Sharma (born 18 September 1985) is a Hindi film, web and television actor. He is widely known for portraying Shaurya Sabherwal in ''Shaurya Aur Anokhi Ki Kahani.'' Career He debuted with the film ''Sadda Adda''. Other film roles inclu ...

in the film. According to the report of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', Prabhakar was unhappy due to his depiction in bad light in the film.

References

External links

*
: Article about Prabhakar's Hundred
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakar, Manoj India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Indian cricketers Delhi cricketers Durham cricketers North Zone cricketers 1963 births Living people Cricketers from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian cricket coaches Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Indian cricket commentators All India Indira Congress (Tiwari) politicians Indian National Congress politicians Cricketers banned for corruption