Ball tampering offence calls for serious punishment, says Venkatesh Prasad

Prasad has voiced for sever punishment on ball tampering culprits.

Smith on his way back to Australia from South Africa. (ICC)

The ball tampering controversy involving leading Australian cricketers has tampered the image of Cricket Australia and have also opened up several questions as to why are players increasingly associating themselves in such activities which are against the spirit of the game. 

Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad is the latest to join the chorus regarding the matter.  “It is a serious matter (ball-tampering) and it should be dealt very seriously,” Prasad, who is the new bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming Indian Premier League, said Prasad. 

“Whatever has happened is not good for cricket. It is against the ethics and rule of the game,” he said referring to the incident that took place in the third Test between Australia and South Africa. 

The former pacer is against using any object for changing the condition of ball. “Using an object to change the condition of ball is not the right tactic,” he said. 

Prasad is starting a new coaching stint with KXIP as their bowling coach this season. Regarding the new IPL season, Prasad said “This season all the teams are very much on the same platform. The new auction that has happened and the kind of combination Kings XI got, the team is outstanding. I strongly believe we can go all the way". 

He also kept a word on R Ashwin, KXIP's skipper for the season. “Ashwin is a very good thinker of the game…he is keen student of the game. In the past decade, he has done extremely well for India and the IPL. So, he as a captain and leader of Kings XI Punjab is a huge huge advantage,” he said.

Prasad threw his weight behind three players in the franchise from Karnataka. “We have got some exciting talents in K L Rahul, Karun Nair and Mayank Aggarwal, who got an outstanding domestic season. Three of the players hail from Karnataka,” he said.

Prasad is also putting his best bet on Yuvraj Singh. “We all know what he (Yuvraj) is capable of doing…on his day he can take any team any opposition…he is an outstanding player,” he concluded. 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 29 Mar, 2018

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