MSK Prasad Lists Three Biggest Regrets Of His Tenure As Chairman Of Selectors

MSK Prasad, former chairman of selection committee of the Indian cricket team recently came to an end. The former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman has now been replaced by left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi.

MSK Prasad’s campaign as the head of the selection committee had its fair share of highs but it was also marred with a plethora of controversial. In a recent conversation with FanCode, Prasad listed down his three major regrets during his tenure at the helm of the selection committee.

MSK Prasad’s first regret- Not giving enough opportunities to Karun Nair

The first regret that MSK Prasad dwelled on was the lack of opportunities that his selection committee gave to Karun Nair. Nair, who shot into limelight after he became only the second Indian batsman to rack up a triple hundred, was dumped from the playing XI after a few bad outings in the home series against Australia in early 2017 and have since then not been able to break into the side despite being a part of the touring party during the 2018 England series. And, Prasad admitted that his selection committee should have give more chances to Nair to cement his place in the Indian Test team.

“I feel Karun Nair especially after getting that triple century, we didn’t give much opportunties. We could’ve given him that comeback opportunity. We did give him the England series but he didn’t get a match to play, but someone who scores 300, this happens very rarely in world cricket, and we couldn’t give him a comeback opportunity is really heart-breaking, not only for him, for all of us,” MSK Prasad said while speaking to Fancode.

MSK Prasad’s second regret- The Amabti Rayudu axing from the 2019 World Cup squad

One of the biggest controversies surrounding the MSK Prasad-led selection committee was the sacking of Ambati Rayudu from the 2019 World Cup squad. Rayudu, despite being in the scheme of things leading into the tournament, was overlooked from the World Cup touring party as the selection committee opted for the ‘three dimensional’ Vijay Shankar.

“Second thing is, I also feel bad for Ambati Rayudu, he was in thick and thin of things till the last second of the World Cup and on that day of the selections, he was missed out, there’s no doubt that it’s not only he who felt bad for it, I am sure all of selection committee, all of the members also feel bad for that,” Prasad added.

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MSK Prasad’s third regret: Dropping Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja from the white-ball squads in 2017

The third and last regret that MSK Prasad pointed out was the way in which Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were ousted from the white-ball set-up in the aftermath of the 2017 Champions Trophy final defeat to Pakistan.

“One more point to stress is, after the Champions Trophy, we had to move on from Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin and we brought in Kuldeep and Chahal. It’s a wonderful move that has paid rich dividends for us for the next couple of years, but let’s not forget that they were no.1 and no.2 test cricketers when they were left out of the ODI side,” MSK Prasad added.

Ashwin and Jadeja were the collateral damages from that chastening defeat that India suffered at the hands of Pakistan in the 2017 final. As the Men in Blue opted to go for the wrist-spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, the duo were sacked from the white-ball set-up. And, while Jadeja did manage to regain his place, that move virtually turned out to be curtains for Ashwin- the white-ball player.

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