Venkatesh Prasad eager to reprise old role as India’s bowling coach

Former India fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad has expressed a desire to once again take up a role as a member of the Indian team’s support staff – as assistant coach or bowling coach. The 47-year-old clarified that he had not submitted an application to the BCCI for the vacant head coach’s role and was unlikely to do so before the July 9 deadline.

“I’ve not applied for the head coach’s role yet and might not do so before the deadline,” Prasad told Cricbuzz. “However, I’m very much keen to contribute to Indian cricket as an assistant coach or a bowling coach. I can work under Ravi Shastri or Virender Sehwag or whoever becomes the head coach and bring in my experiences as an international cricketer and a former coach.”

While the Cricket Advisory Committee is immediately tasked with preparing a shortlist of the coaching applicants and help pick the new head coach after an interview process, the committee is likely to let the new coach pick have his own say in the composition of his support staff. Under Kumble’s reign, India didn’t need a separate bowling coach (Bharat Arun had filled that role under Shastri) and sought only specialised coaches for batting (Sanjay Bangar) and fielding (R. Sridhar).

“I’m not sure whose prerogative it is to pick the assistant or bowling coaches but if the legends at the CAC – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman consider me worthy, I will be more than happy to work towards the betterment of Indian cricket,” Prasad reiterated.