Venkatesh Prasad applies for India head coach

Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad has applied for the role of Indian Head Coach today. Prasad who is the chairman of the BCCI junior selecting committee is keen to get back to a coaching role. He has also been India’s bowling coach in the past.

Prasad is no stranger to the Indian set up as he was the bowling coach of the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian side which won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007.

The former lanky paceman will face direct competition from Ravi Shastri and current chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil. However, Prasad is open to becoming the bowling coach if he does not the job of the head coach.

Prasad has enough coaching experience as apart from being the bowling coach of the Indian team, he has worked with IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has also been linked with Bangladesh cricket after few reports surfaced about him being interested as their bowling coach.

In his playing days, Prasad formed a potent combination with fellow Karnataka pacer Javagal Srinath. He played for India in 33 Tests and 161 ODIs taking 96 and 196 wickets respectively.

The BCCI had recently advertised for the position, which included nine criteria which the prospective coach had to meet. There were few speculations about Hindi being a mandatory language, but soon the air was cleared.

There are a lot of names doing the rounds, as apart from Sandeep Patil and Ravi Shastri, Sanjay Bangar has also expressed his desire to throw his hat in the ring. Bangar is currently the coach of the Indian team touring Zimbabwe.

And then there is Rahul Dravid, who one might say is the crowd favourite for the job. His stellar record with India U-19 and India-A hold him in good stead.

Apart from these, there are rumours that current selector Vikram Rathour, Pravin Amre, Lalchand Rajput, and Hrishikesh Kanitkar are some other names who have expressed their desire to get the coveted job.