OTD: Birthday of Venkatesh Prasad who made undisputed pair with Javagal Srinath

August 5, 1969, is the birthday of Venkatesh Prasad, who went on to form an undisputed bond with Javagal Srinath, another legend of Indian cricket. They both often formed a bond to operate the new ball to offer India a solid start.

The tall bowler from Karnataka is mostly known for his attacking mode of bowling and variations. Due to his wicket-taking mindset, the pacer got a notable number of successes while playing in overseas conditions. Though, some of his lethal strikes came in home assignments.

One of his best key advantages was that he could move the ball in both directions, and to surprise the batters, he liked to deliver effective slower ones. His most eventful spell came at Chennai, where, in the first Test in January 1999 against Pakistan, he forced Pakistan's second innings to a swift end with figures of 6 for 33.

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Career stats in brief 

In a World Cup match against the arch rivals, Prasad again ran a bulldozer over Pakistan's batting lineup. Against them at Old Trafford in 1999, big names of the Pakistan cricket team—Saleem Malik, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and Wasim Akram—could not stand against the intelligent bowler. In 1996, at Durban, against South Africa in a Test match, Venkatesh bagged a 10-wicket figure, hauling 5 wickets in each inning.

His Test cricket career spanned from 1996 to 2001; during this period, the right-handed pacer played 33 matches and took 96 wickets in total. In ODIs, from 1994 to 2001, the bowling maestro claimed 196 wickets in total, participating in 161 games. Following retirement, he started a career in coaching. After gaining some experience with the Under 19 side and as coach of his statesideKarnataka, he was appointed India's bowling coach for the tour of Bangladesh in May 2007.