Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh fired

[kingkallis]

Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh have been sacked as India's bowling and fielding coaches with immediate effect.

Source

 

[pup11]

Prasad and Singh definitely improved the standards of Indian bowling and fielding, and I'm very surprised they have been fired just on basis of a few bad games.

 

[Edged&Taken]

the fielding has been a let down lately imo

 

[G.I.Joe]

The fielding hasn't been good throughout Robin's tenure, and while the bowling improved a lot under Prasad initially, lately its fallen to pieces.

 

[Shri]

Yeah. Prasad might have survived in his role if Zaheer wasn't injured. Ishant just faded away in the last few months and the fielding has been pretty poor too.

 

[Arjun]

This is baffling. These two were the only ones capable of generating an improvement or two in this team. Do they have proper replacements? Can they go shopping for prospects abroad? Or will they settle with mediocre domestic options? Or will they go on without anybody to fill the role? While the bowling and fielding has been a letdown lately, the fielding in particular has been significantly better than it was during the John Wright era. The (seam) bowling has been disappointing, but much of that is due to the captaincy, which doesn't help anyone but the part-time bowler.

 

[Black_Warrior]

The bowling did deteriorate especially if you look at Ishant, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh. Pathan won them a test match in Perth and since then has lost his place. Ishant has lost his pace and swing and is about to lose his place.. However, having said all that, I am not sure if Venkatesh Prasad should be blamed for them. Ishant played too many matches and that ultimately took a toll on his fitness. He is just not running in fast enough with as much energy from what I saw of him in the Champions Trophy.

 

[silentstriker]

The Test results have been fine. Can't believe people are being fired based on limited overs formats. And I love how the head coach has no say in who the specialty coaches are. Ludicrous. They needed someone to take the blame, so the little guys go.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, often there needs to be issues for them to be sorted out in the first place, and those issues only are highlighted after bowling badly. Sometimes, you have to go through a slump to get better.

By going and getting a new bowling coach, with different ideas, then you're back at step 1 of the reconstruction process. Silly.

 

[Arjun]

The casualties keep mounting- two batsmen, three all-rounders, two pace bowlers and possibly a wicketkeeper- so many talented players lost due to haphazard, thoughtless management. Now two valuable support coaches suffer. And then you wonder why they can't win a Champions' Trophy/

 

[Isura]

The Test results have been fine. Can't believe people are being fired based on limited overs formats. And I love how the head coach has no say in who the specialty coaches are. Ludicrous. They needed someone to take the blame, so the little guys go.

OD cricket generates much more revenue for BCCI. It is an odd move though.

 

[SaeedAnwar]

The Test results have been fine. Can't believe people are being fired based on limited overs formats. And I love how the head coach has no say in who the specialty coaches are. Ludicrous. They needed someone to take the blame, so the little guys go.

Thats the problem with south asians. Little guys get crushed in every field, not just in cricket.

look at how treat our servants for example ( thats a different topic though)

 

[sirdj]

What else do you expect from the BCCI. They are a bunch of idiots.

 

[nightprowler10]

Firing Prasad is ridiculous. Not seen much of an improvement in fielding, its always up and down with India, but the bowlers seemed sound for a while there. Poor decision.

 

[analyst]

Deflecting attention from the on field performances, Cowardly and classic BCCI. Over the years they have become wealthier but clearly no wiser.

 

[Jono]

This is almost soley based on Ishant Sharma's decline in limited overs cricket IMO.

Stupid.

 

[silentstriker]

Firing Prasad is ridiculous. Not seen much of an improvement in fielding, its always up and down with India, but the bowlers seemed sound for a while there. Poor decision.

The fielding problems can't be fixed by a national coach anyway. It has to be done before even FC cricket. People have to grow up with better fitness, they have to want the ball to come to them. In baseball, the coaches always say that. You want to prepare as if and hope that every ball comes to you to show what you can do. It's a shift in attitude that's not easily achievable later on, not to mention fitness and other things.

 

[silentstriker]

Incidentally, same thing about bowling (or batting). By the time you reach the Test level, you should have your own coaches, your own styles, etc. There is no reason your action should change substantially once you get there. You should know your stuff by then. That's why I've been in favor of a minimum number of FC matches played before consideration for a Test birth. I would say at least 3-4 seasons worth.

 

[masterblaster]

Typical Indian thing to do. So they fire the two people who were actually making a difference based on some ODI performances and they don't even allow Gary Kirsten to have any say? Really stupid. But this is Indian Cricket we are talking about so I'm not surprised.

 

[Manee]

The fielding problems can't be fixed by a national coach anyway. It has to be done before even FC cricket. People have to grow up with better fitness, they have to want the ball to come to them. In baseball, the coaches always say that. You want to prepare as if and hope that every ball comes to you to show what you can do. It's a shift in attitude that's not easily achievable later on, not to mention fitness and other things.

A little-known Briton disagrees...

Not many would have heard of Julien Fountain, but chances are you might just hear more about the man, considering how persistently he is applying for a job in Indian cricket, reports Anand Vasu.

More...

Little-known Briton throws his hat into the BCCI ring

Anand Vasu, Hindustan Times

New Delhi, October 16, 2009

First Published: 23:55 IST(16/10/2009)
Last Updated: 23:57 IST(16/10/2009)


Not many would have heard of Julien Fountain, but chances are you might just hear more about the man, considering how persistently he is applying for a job in Indian cricket.

On October 1, Fountain applied for the post of fielding coach, Hindustan Times has learnt, after being rejected for the same position about a year ago. The Board of Control for Cricket in India then had Robin Singh in place and did not take Fountain’s offer seriously. There’s no indication that they’re going to do so now, but that hasn’t stopped the Briton from trying.

Very interesting story, btw, and I hope the BCCI considers his application seriously, he seems to be able to talk-the-talk. The article notes him as a 'little known Briton', but I'm sure some CWers will have heard the name before, I have heard the name before in relation to the West Indies, I believe but he has certainly coached enough teams to have some notoriety.

Incidentally, same thing about bowling (or batting). By the time you reach the Test level, you should have your own coaches, your own styles, etc. There is no reason your action should change substantially once you get there. You should know your stuff by then. That's why I've been in favor of a minimum number of FC matches played before consideration for a Test birth. I would say at least 3-4 seasons worth.

I do agree with this - bowling actions and styles should not be altered once you reach the Test level. The exception is when there is a risk of injury though, which should be, but is not always spotted early on. An example would be Ishant Sharma, who in his pre-Australia days, bowled with a mixed action, with the top half front on and the bottom half side on, this was rectified after he'd reached the Indian team. Moreover, the role of a bowling coach should not be to change the action, but to provide little nuggets of advice such as variations, what you should do in different conditions, and so on, and I do believe that Prasad did this.

Typical Indian thing to do. So they fire the two people who were actually making a difference based on some ODI performances and they don't even allow Gary Kirsten to have any say? Really stupid. But this is Indian Cricket we are talking about so I'm not surprised.

Definitely stupid; Kirsten should have had a say.