The Indian team just needs a physical trainer as per the captain's attitude, says Erapalli Prasanna
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Legendary Indian off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna has lashed out at Indian skipper Virat Kohli commenting that the team just requires a physical trainer judging by the captain's attitude. The 77-year old also stated that a cricketer of Anil Kumble's stature did not deserve such a sending-off.
Anil Kumble stepped down as the Indian coach on Tuesday and revealed a strained relationship with Indian skipper Virat Kohli as the reason for his resignation. Following the incident, a BCCI official revealed that it was indeed Kohli whose hostile stance against the former leg-spinner forced him into resigning from the post. Since then the Delhi batsman has been drawing flak from various former cricketers and Eraplli Prasanna was the latest addition to that list.
"Just hire somebody for the physical training and that will be enough. If such is the attitude of a captain I don't think you require a coach," the 77-year-old said, seemingly upset with Kohli's behaviour," an irritated Prasanna told PTI.
"Why do they require a coach, if the captain is the boss? I don't think they even need the services of batting or fielding coaches (Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar)," he added.
The recent revelations also made Prasanna question Kohli's captaincy abilities as Kumble's departure is being seen as a great loss to Indian cricket.
"Kohli is undoubtedly a very good player but I do not know whether he is a good captain or not," he said.
The Indian team left for the Carribean sans a head coach and will play the home team in five ODIs and one T20I starting today. However, Prasanna questioned whether the batting and fielding coaches accompanying the team would be able to justify their roles in Kohli's presence.
"If a legendary cricketer like Anil Kumble is not respected, I do not think neither of them - Bangar and Sridhar - will have the guts to speak to Kohli in a confident way. None of them are as experienced like Kumble," Prasanna said.
"We can go back to the good old days of appointing a manager to look after the logistics if he (Kohli) takes up the responsibility. The role of a coach is not defined," he added.
Prasanna also advised the Indian selectors to find young and agile replacements for the Indian team veterans namely MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh keeping the 2019 World Cup in mind.
"I don't think they will be able to continue till the next World Cup in 2019, they will be 38 then. We need fresh and young legs and players who are extremely agile," he said.
"Okay, Dhoni will be the wicketkeeper but Yuvraj is going to be a liability as a fielder. In fact, the selectors should have tried out more youngsters for this West Indies tour, as they are one of the weakest teams at the moment," he concluded.
