Don't take foreign coaches too seriously urges Venkatesh Prasad

Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has slammed former Indian coach Greg Chappell and has urged the Indian cricketing circle to not take the foreign coaches too seriously.

Hailing Deepak Chahar for his heroics with the bat in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka, Prasad said that this was the same player who was rejected by Greg Chappell when Chahar was a budding cricketer trying to set his feet in the game.

Chappell had asked Chahar to chose a different profession as he felt he was not capable enough of making a career in the game. Deepak Chahar who is primarily a swing bowler managed to get India over the line in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka courtesy a sensational knock of 69.

"Deepak Chahar Was rejected by Greg Chappell at RCA for his height and told to look at a different occupation. And he single-handedly won a match with not even his primary skills. Moral of the story - Believe in yourself and don't take overseas coaches too seriously," Prasad tweeted.

"There are off-course exceptions but with such wonderful talent in India, it's time that teams and franchisees consider having Indian coaches and mentors as much as possible," he further added.

Chappell’s coaching stint with the Indian team from 2005 to 2007 remains one of the most controversial coaching tenures ever. While India won 17 consecutive games while chasing under Chappell, he was shown the exit door after India’s ouster from the 2007 World Cup in the group stage.

Meanwhile former cricketer and a current analyst Aakash Chopra had also said during an episode of Aakash Vani on Facebook that Chahar was rejected by Chappell during his early days.

"Chahar's story is very exciting. When he was younger, he used to practice in Rajasthan in Hanumangarh, he met Gregg Chappell – the director of the Rajasthan Cricket Academy at that time, who told him to leave cricket. Chappell told him to leave cricket not because he wouldn't get selected into the academy but he told him that he would never become a cricketer himself," he had said during the show.

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