Venkatesh Prasad (; born 5 August 1969), is an Indian Cricket Kannada Commentator, coach and former professional cricketer who played Tests and

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling combination with

Javagal Srinath Javagal Srinath (, born 31 August 1969) is a former Indian cricketer and currently an ICC match referee. He is considered among India's finest fast bowlers and is the only Indian fast bowler till date to have taken more than 300 wickets in O ...

. He was a part of the squad which finished as runners-up at the

2000 ICC Champions Trophy The 2000 ICC KnockOut Trophy was the second edition of the One Day International cricket tournament. Later renamed as ''ICC Champions Trophy'', it was held in Kenya (which helped to increase the popularity of cricket in Kenya). New Zealand were c ...

. He is the bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

, having formerly performed the same role for the

Indian cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with T ...

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

Canara Bank Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank based in Bangalore, India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. The bank was nationalized in 1969. Canara Bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York. History Amm ...

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-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. 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, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in the 1999 Test series in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, came on a docile pitch in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

; 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 ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

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, in December 1996. It remains his only ten-wicket haul 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 batter. Takin ...

s in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 1996, in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, 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 given 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 Arjun ...

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 for sponsorship reasons, was the sixth Cricket World Cup organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The tournament wa ...

when after being hit for a boundary and openly sledged by Pakistan batsman

Aamir Sohail Mohammad Aamer Sohail Ali (; born 14 September 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator and former cricketer. In a playing career that spanned ten years, Sohail played in 195 first-class and 261 List A Limited Overs matches, including 47 Te ...

, 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 is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

championships with

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. 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 The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was played in Sri Lanka from 2 to 15 February 2006. It was the sixth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup. The final was played between Pakistan Under-19 cricket team, Pakistan and India Under-19 cri ...

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 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

, which did not give any reasons for the unceremonious dumping. Prasad was the coach of

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

during their inaugural season in 2008. He worked as bowling coach for Kings XI Punjab in 2018.

Personal life

His mother tongue is

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

. Prasad is married to Jayanthi.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Venkatesh 1969 births Coaches of the Indian national cricket team Cricketers from Bengaluru India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Indian cricketers Indian cricket 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 Indian expatriate sportspeople in Afghanistan Expatriate cricket coaches