Venkatesh Prasad prefers back seat

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Tall, lanky and with virtually no airs, he was more than happy to grant the spotlight to his pace partner Javagal Srinath during his playing days. More... Venkatesh Prasad prefers back seat TNN / Bobilli Vijay Kumar TRENT BRIDGE, July 31: If you can forget the brawl against Aamer Sohail during the 1996 World Cup, Venkatesh Prasad can best be described as a low-profile man. Tall, lanky and with virtually no airs, he was more than happy to grant the spotlight to his pace partner Javagal Srinath during his playing days. Even as India's bowling coach, he prefers to stay behind and quietly do the hard work. "I didn't do anything special," he told TOI , shortly after the bowlers' amazing turnaround in the Lord's Test. "I just told them that this is England. You don't need to do anything extra here, just bowl to your strengths," he explained. Following the Trent Bridge victory too, he was quick to credit Sachin Tendulkar with the plan of attacking Vaughan from around the wicket. "Sachin made the suggestion to Zaheer after noting that Vaughan was not too comfortable against the left-arm pacers. But RP, who also adopted the same line, picked it up on his own," he explained. Sree apologises For some time on the fourth day, it looked like Sree Santh had lost it. The temperamental fast bowler was clearly struggling with his run-up and slowly but surely losing his cool too. He barged into Vaughan, slipped in a beamer at Pietersen, over-stepped the crease almost by a foot-and-a-half and on at least once occasion stopped in his tracks while bowling. In the end, he was even penalized half of his match fee. But all that didn't seem to bother him. He was happily posing for photographs, signing autographs and enjoying himself after India posted the victory. For a moment, one thought he was the architect of the win. But then, suddenly, he saw Ravi Shastri and became very grim. Even as the former India captain was getting ready for the final shoot, Sree Santh came up to him and said, "I am sorry, Sir." For a moment, Shastri didn't understand. Then he remembered: "Oh, I had given him a blasting for the way he behaved yesterday. He was apologizing for that." In a minute, turning smugly towards Sree, he said: "I will have a long chat with you later." Sree Santh clearly needs it. The victory mantra The Indian team may or may not have become better at playing the game since a foreign coach first stepped into its terrain, but it has become very good at playing with words. Wittingly or not, it has come up with one catchy phrase after another to motivate itself in important series. "Now or never" was John Wright's call in the 2003 World Cup; Greg Chappell too came up with his own lines. Chandu Borde, our own man, is never one to be left behind. He is the inspiration behind the big phrase for this important tour in England: "We will win." He told a TV channel that the theme came up during a team meeting before the second Test. "I simply told the boys we must win. Soon, it became the motto. We had pinned it up in the dressing room," he added.

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As a bowling coach Prasad has a dream opportunity to prove his worth. He has at his disposal raw talents like Sree, RP and VRV, Piyush, besides more experienced Pathan, Munaf etc. All of these have potential in them, they need a thorough guidance to get their lines standardized like true professional. If Prasad can bring out 2-3 "professional" bowlers out of the available lots, he can prove to the world at large that INDIA TOO CAN PRODUCE BOWLING COACHES. But again at the end of the day, it boils down to the performance of his pupils, and I was disappointed by Sree's performance in Trent Bridge.