Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad (; born 5 August 1969), 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 st ...

er, Cricket Coach , Commentator 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. He is the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as Tata Group, TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 cricket, T20 Professional sports league organization, franchise cricket Sports league, league of India. It is annually contested by ...

, having formerly performed the same role 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 Internationa ...

from 2007 to 2009. He currently serves as Deputy General Manager for

Canara Bank Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank under the control and ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai, the bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York. Hist ...

Early life and education

He has a post graduate certificate from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

. Bachelor of Engineering from MSRIT.

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 Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in the 1999 Test series 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 ...

, came on a docile pitch in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

; 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 Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

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, in December 1996. It remains his only

ten-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowl ...

in Test cricket. Prasad also took

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Ta ...

s in

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, in 1996, in

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 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. He received the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

in 2000. Prasad played his final Test match in

in 2001. One of his finest moments came in

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 ...

when after being hit for a boundary and openly

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by Pakistan batsman Aamir Sohail, Prasad, on the very next ball, clean bowled Sohail, which was a key turning point of the match, which helped India win the game. Prasad was known for his slow leg cutters and was one of its first proponents in world cricket.

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

. Prasad tried unsuccessfully to make a comeback after that before retiring from all forms of cricket in May 2005, having secured two

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

championships with

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

. 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 was sacked by the BCCI, which did not give any reasons for the unceremonious dumping. He was appointed as bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab. He was also the coach of

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...

during their inaugural season in 2008.

Personal life

His mother tongue is

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

. Prasad is married to Jayanthi.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Venkatesh 1969 births Coaches of the Indian national cricket team Cricketers from Bangalore India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Indian cricketers Indian cricket coaches Indian Premier League coaches Karnataka cricketers Living people Recipients of the Arjuna Award South Zone cricketers Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2006 Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London