New Delhi: Former Indian pacer Venkatesh Prasad has been roped in by the Kings XI Punjab as their bowling coach for the upcoming edition of the IPL.
This appointment comes just a couple of days after he had stepped down as the chief of the junior selection committee.
With the 11th edition of the IPL beginning in April, the Punjab based franchise have already announced their support staff.
“Venkatesh Prasad, former right-arm medium-fast bowler and ex-chairman of the junior national selection committee (BCCI) comes on board as the team’s bowling coach,” said Kings XI Punjab in a statement.
Prasad’s resignation from the job comes less than after the Indian U-19 team led by Prithvi Shaw won the World Cup in New Zealand.
Former Australian batsman Brad Hodge has been named head of the coach of the team for the next three seasons. A veteran in the shortest format, Hodge has scored over 7000 runs and would take the team ahead with Virender Sehwag as the mentor.
“The team we’ve managed to get together is absolutely phenomenal. Each member of our coaching staff brings bundles of experience and insight that will help us reach the perfection we strive for here at Kings XI. It’s a truly exciting prospect,” Hodge said.
Delhi player Mithun Manhas has arrived on board as the assistant coach of the side while Nishant Thakur, Shyamal Vallabhjee and Nishanta Bordoloi fill in the shoes of the team’s strength and conditioning coach, technical coach and fielding coach, respectively.
Said Sehwag, “We are glad to have a foreign coach join the team this year along with Venkatesh. I hope the team benefits hugely from their collective experiences.”