OTD Venkatesh Prasad was born in 1969

Venkatesh Prasad, a former India fast bowler, coach, and commentator, was born on August 5, 1969, in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Known for his ability to swing the ball both ways, Prasad formed a formidable pace duo with Javagal Srinath in the late 1990s, becoming a vital part of India’s bowling attack.

Standing at 6’3″, he relied on his cutters and movement, often finding more success overseas due to conducive conditions.

Prasad made his first-class debut for Karnataka in 1991 and was selected for the Indian ODI team in 1994, debuting in Christchurch against New Zealand. Though he went wicketless in his first match, he soon established himself as a regular, especially after the retirement of Kapil Dev.

His Test debut came in 1996 against England at Birmingham, where he impressed with figures of 4/71 and 2/50.

He played 33 Tests for India, taking 96 wickets at an average of 35.00, including seven five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket match. In ODIs, he featured in 161 matches, collecting 196 wickets at an economy rate of 4.67.

His best ODI figures, 5/27, came in 1999 World Cup against Pakistan, but his most memorable performance was his 6/33 in Chennai in 1999 against Pakistan in a narrow loss.

One of Prasad’s iconic moments came during the 1996 World Cup quarter-final against Pakistan in Bengaluru. After being hit for a boundary by Aamer Sohail, who then gestured at Prasad to fetch the ball from the boundary, the pacer responded by bowling him out the very next delivery and gave him a fiery send-off. Prasad represented India in the 1996 and 1999 World Cups.

His last Test came in 2001 against Sri Lanka, and his final ODI was also in 2001, versus Kenya. With the rise of Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, Prasad found it tough to retain his place in the national side and retired in 2005.

Post-retirement, he turned to coaching and led India’s U-19 team to a runners-up finish in the 2006 World Cup. In 2007, he was appointed India’s bowling coach. Prasad has also worked with IPL franchises like Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings.

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