New Delhi: Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad, who had put together India’s U-19 World Cup winning squad stepped down from the post of chairman of the junior selection committee on Friday.
The lanky paceman wrote to the BCCI and Committee of Administrators (CoA) about him relinquishing his job with immediate effect.
BCCI acting president CK Khanna, while confirming Prasad’s resignation said, “I spoke to Prasad and asked him to reconsider his decision. But he is firm and wants to move on. A thorough gentleman, Prasad’s contribution as a selector is immense and we at BCCI are proud of his achievements. We wish him all the best.”
The 48-year-old hinted at the fact that he might return to coaching and that the reason for him stepping down is because of the BCCI’s, ‘Conflict of Interest’ clause which says, “Cricketers appointed as coaches of Indian teams or national selectors shall not be associated with any private coaching academies during their tenure.” This rule applies to national, state and franchise-based leagues.
But he refused to speak too much about his coaching role as he said, “I understand the conflict of interest clause and so I have resigned..I am weighing my options in coaching and will reveal my next assignment in due course.”
Recently, there have been talks of Prasad joining any IPL team as bowling coach. If such a thing happens, then it would be Prasad’s first coaching assignment since his stint with the Uttar Pradesh senior team in 2014.
Having a good amount of experience in coaching, Prasad had mentored the U-19 World Team to the final in 2006 and had also fulfilled the role of a bowling coach the following year for the senior national side. He has so been parts of the coaching units of his home state of Karnataka and IPL franchises Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings.
Prasad also felt that he is leaving the job having performed his duties sincerely and with satisfaction, since taking up the role in 2015.
“It was a huge challenge but an exciting one. I love travelling and have logged thousands of miles across the country. It wasn’t easy watching so many matches where the key was to be alert and observant. We had to assess players on a lot of factors and I couldn’t afford to be lax,” he said.
He further added, “I always discussed and debated with my colleagues on the need to give youngsters as many opportunities as possible. It is important to keep their hopes alive because many of them could be late bloomers and may represent the country in the next 2-3 years. I’m glad we tried out a lot of players in various tournaments over the past couple of years.”
Prasad and his co-selectors Gyanendra Pandey and Rakesh Parikh didn’t get anything from the board for India’s U-19 World Cup triumph this year whereas the senior committee members received Rs 15 lakh each for the good performances of the men’s and women’s teams last year. Prasad however refused to think too much about it, saying that he did his job without expecting any rewards in return.