Venkatesh Prasad
Venkatesh Prasad (Image Credit: PTI)

Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has applied for the post of national selector and as per reports in TOI, is close to being the front-runner to win the elections. The BCCI had earlier opened up applications for the post of national selector. The deadline for nominations closed on Monday and former cricketers like Nayan Mongia, Ajay Ratra, Maninder Singh, and Shiv Sundar Das have applied for the post. 

The BCCI sacked the entire selection committee after India’s poor performance in ICC T20 World Cup 2022. Chetan Sharma, Harvinder Singh, Sunil Joshi, and Debashish Mohanty were sacked by BCCI after Team India failed to reach the final of the T20 global event. Sharma has reapplied for the post even after being sacked by the board earlier. 

Venkatesh Prasad Frontrunner To Become National Selector: Reports
Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Sunil Joshi, Debashish Mohanty, and Chetan Sharma (Image Credits: Twitter)

Meanwhile, as per reports in TOI, Venkatesh Prasad is very close to winning the contest. He was a junior chief selector between 2016-2018. In that period India made it to the U-19 World Cup final in Bangladesh and won the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. 

Venkatesh Prasad Previously Served As Junior Chief Selector Between 2016-18

Venkatesh Prasad
Venkatesh Prasad. Image-Twitter

Following India’s ouster from the recently concluded T20 World Cup in Australia, the selection committee came under the scanner before the board decided to sack the entire team of selectors. 

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With two ICC events lined up in the next two years, the board is expecting to create a new team of selectors who can prepare the best team across formats. There are also reports that the team management is thinking about a possible split captaincy across formats. 

Ventakesh Prasad
Photo Credit: (BCCI)

Meanwhile, speaking about Venkatesh Prasad’s credentials as a cricketer, he played 33 Tests and 161 ODIs from 1996 to 2001, in which he took a total of 292 international wickets. Prasad was also India’s bowling coach during India’s win in the 2007 T20 World Cup campaign. 

The former Indian bowler also had coaching spells in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings. He also coached the stateside of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Having seen the growth of the new lot of Indian bowlers, he might be the right man for the job which requires knowing the players as well.  

Also Read: 5 Indian Players Who Performed Under Virat Kohli But They Underperformed Under Rohit Sharma

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Anshuman Roy is an author at Cricketaddictor. He has been working with the organization since January 2022 and he has written more than 6000 articles for the website.