Venkatesh Prasad: To Succeed, You Need to Be Humble

“A major disappointment this year has been the fact that neither the bowlers nor the batsmen could deliver. When you falter in both the departments, expecting a good result is too much,” says Venkatesh Prasad of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s dismal performance this season. By Shayan Acharya.

- Shayan Acharya.

It’s not often that Venkatesh Prasad speaks his mind. But when he does, flood gates open! The former India medium-pacer, who is now the chairman of the National junior selection committee, is not too happy with the way his city team, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has performed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season.

What has gone wrong with the star-studded side? According to Prasad, it’s all about lack of planning. As a struggling RCB ended its campaign at home (M. Chinna swamy Stadium) with another defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders, Sportstar caught up with Prasad, RCB’s head coach in the first season of the IPL, in Bengaluru to talk on issues that have mostly been avoided so far.

Excerpts:

Question: It’s been 10 years since the IPL began and RCB still hasn’t managed to win a title. Having been the head coach of the team in the first season, how do you see this?

Answer: It was not this bad during my period, my friend. Even after the first season, I returned as RCB coaching staff in the fourth and sixth seasons, and then we reached the final of the IPL. We even went to the final of the Champions League T20. But yes, in the first season, the combination of the team was pathetic.

You really think so?

Yes. There was quality, there was talent but the aggression was missing. The players were not apt for this format. You can imagine... we had Rahul Dravid in our ranks. The other day, Rahul was telling his boys at Delhi Daredevils that it’s good that they have not watched him bat. That was an honest confession. There was Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis among others. They were not suited for this format. Also, they couldn’t adapt to this format immediately. They are great players, but not suited for this format.