India have seen many great players, if we try to conclude all of them into a list, it won’t be enough. But when it comes to producing quality pacers, India always lacked it. However, little did we know that we would be watching a great pacer playing for the Indian team at the international level and winning matches for the team.
It was August 5. 1969 when the former legendary Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad was born. He worked hard as a kid to become an Indian cricketer and play as a right-arm fast bowler when the team was already looking for a quality pacer. Prasad made his ODI debut in 1994 and Test debut in 1996.
He was one of the most dominant bowlers of the 90s. Prasad had the ability to swing the ball both ways which helped him to take wickets at any stage of the game. The legendary duo of Prasad and Javagal Srinath is still unforgettable. Both of them used to be nightmares for their opponents.
Prasad played 161 ODI matches and took 196 wickets at an average of 32.30, which included 1 fifer as well. Talking about his Test career, he played 33 matches and took 96 wickets at an average of 35, which included 7 five-wicket hauls. The figures are enough to tell that Prasad was phenomenal in the longest format especially.
Venkatesh Prasad’s iconic send-off to Aamir Sohail during 1996 World Cup
Prasad also had an on-field heated moment with former Pakistan batter Aamir Sohail during the 1996 ODI World Cup. No one can forget the epic send-off he gave to Sohail after he bowled him out. Before that, Sohail smashed Prasad for a boundary in the 15th over and also signalled to the boundary line to tell Prasad that he will hit the boundary again towards the same place.
Prasad remained calm and didn’t respond instead he let the ball do the talking and it actually worked for him as in the very next ball Sohail once again tried to hit the ball for a boundary but failed to make a connection and the ball went straight to the stumps. It was then Prasad’s turn to give it back to Sohail as he had the last laugh.