‘KL Rahul’s bestie’ – Fans wish former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad on his 54th birthday

It is the 54th birthday of former India cricketer and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad. The right-arm medium-fast bowler played 33 Test matches and 161 One Day Internationals for India, mostly in the 1990s. For almost 10 years, Prasad was one of the mainstays in Indian cricket, especially in the limited Overs format. Some of the biggest achievements by Prasad have come in ODIs.  

The Bangalore-born bowler is well known for his comeback in the 1996 ODI World Cup match against Pakistan. Defending 289 in 49 overs, India was blown away at the start, as Pakistan was off to 113/1 in 14.5 overs. The Pakistani batters were in full flow, especially Aamer Sohail. The Southpaw was pumped up in the big quarterfinal match.  

In the heat of the moment, Sohail was lost and gestured that he would hit the ball exactly where he hit in the previous delivery, in the covers region. Prasad sensed the opportunity and bowled a back-of-a-length delivery. Sohail missed it completely and the off stump was uprooted. Prasad had one of the most splendid comebacks of all time and gave a worthy sendoff to Sohail.  

Memorable performances in International cricket

In the 1999 ODI World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Manchester, Prasad bowled a brilliant spell and claimed a 5-wicket haul. Prasad’s 5/27 helped India beat Pakistan in ODI World Cup for the third time in a row. Apart from these two spells, Prasad had many other memorable spells too. In Test cricket, Prasad claimed seven 5-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket haul.  

In 33 Test matches, Prasad claimed 96 wickets at an average of 35.00, at a strike rate of 73.34, with a best figure of 6/33. In ODIs, Prasad claimed 196 wickets in 160 innings at a bowling average of 32.31, a bowling strike rate of 41.47, at an economy of 4.67, including three 4-wicket hauls. Prasad was the bowling coach of the young Indian team which won the maiden T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa.   

Here’s how the fans wished him on his birthday:

Most overrated player of all time

— , (@AltofLeg) August 5, 2023

Happy Birthday to abbu of aamir sohail

— AKHIL AK63 (@Sammy41648183) August 5, 2023

Most satisfying moment for us in that game.

— Ajitsingh Jhyont (@asj__27) August 5, 2023

If he can be called one of the finest then it shows how mediocre our bowling line up has been over the years

— KhoyaKhoyaHoon (@KhoyaHoon) August 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/IconicKohIi/status/1687665846993526784?s=20

Great coach

— Mr Wrong (@wrong_huihui) August 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/chauhandwarrior/status/1687665910591713280?s=20

Mid baller, can’t even bowl against KL

— User45 (@140off113) August 5, 2023

https://twitter.com/dotexe786/status/1687668824144064512?s=20

https://twitter.com/urscoolrahul/status/1687676499653214208?s=20