Venkatesh Prasad Resigns As Chief Junior Selector

Updated - 02 Mar 2018, 09:31 PM

Venkatesh Prasad (Credits: Twitter)

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Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad, on Friday (March 2), submitted his resignation from the post of chairman, junior national selection committee. The unexpected decision has come less than a month after India won the U-19 World Cup.

The resignation brought an end to Prasad’s 30-month tenure as the head of the junior national selection committee. Prasad did not enjoy an amicable relationship with the BCCI officials in recent times. However, media reports are suggesting that Prasad cited personal reasons for stepping down. The former fast-bowler also stated that he wanted to avoid any ‘Conflict of Interest’ with reports suggesting that he might join any IPL franchisee.

“It’s still not clear but there are chances that he might be joining any IPL franchise and that’s why he wanted to avoid a potential conflict of interest,” a senior BCCI official told PTI.

C K Khanna, the acting BCCI president, said that he tried to convince Prasad but failed.

“I tried to convince him but it seems he has made up his mind,” Khanna said. “He has been one of the finest talent spotters and deserves due credit in selecting a world champion junior team.”

In 2016, Prasad was in line to become the chairman of the senior selection committee. However, the post instead went to MSK Prasad and BCCI decided to give the former pacer the reigns of the junior panel.

India had won this year’s Under-19 World Cup (Credits: Getty)

Recently, the Prasad-led panel was not given any cash reward despite Prithvi Shaw & Co. winning the under-19 World Cup. On the other hand, the senior selection panel and women’s panel had been handsomely rewarded by BCCI after both the senior men’s and women’s team lost the finals of the Champions Trophy and World Cup respectively.