Erapalli Prasanna

Calcutta: Erapalli Prasanna was so fed up with the role he could play in grooming spinners that he gladly accepted the ICL offer.

“The NCA set up a spin wing but what happened after that? I am based in Bangalore, the headquarters of the NCA, but I didn’t get to spend a day with the NCA cadets. My NCA role was confined to two five-day stints in Nagpur and Calcutta. How can one produce good spinners by supervising such short camps? It took me three-four days to scout talent,” Prasanna said from Bangalore.

“Asking experts to attend these short camps is almost like distributing peda… just to show that they have been doing something,” Prasanna said.

He pointed out that despite not having got enough time to train budding spinners, those he had worked with are doing well. “Boys like Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha, Shahbaz Nadeem have started to deliver. There are others in Ranji teams who are breaking through.”

The former India off-spinner said when Kapil Dev approached him to train the ICL spinners, he thought this would be a better platform to fulfil his goal.

“I liked the idea as my objective was the same as theirs… So I joined the ICL,” said Prasanna.

He said the money being offered was important too. “You need good money as an incentive to do a good job in a serious, committed manner. It’s true for every professional.”

Prasanna clarified that the KSCA couldn’t have sacked him as its spin coach. “I was asked to work for two months, June and July. After that there was no extension, so I was not on their pay rolls. Where is the question of sacking me?

“They are projecting the wrong picture… May be the upcoming elections has got something to do with it,” Prasanna added.

He felt that sacking Kapil as the NCA chairman is sending the wrong message to youngsters. “Once the utility factor is over, the BCCI can discard anyone, even someone like Kapil. Something like this can happen to Rahul Dravid or Sourav Ganguly too.”

The 67-year-old can’t fathom why the BCCI is against the ICL.

“The ICL is providing a platform to so many young and talented cricketers, can’t make out why the board should be against this,” Prasanna signed off.