How good was Manoj Prabhakar?

[Sin Nombre]

I only followed the second half of his career and those shameful matchfixed losses (like the one where him and Mongia refused to chase 60 odd runs) but was doing some filtering on cricinfo and noticed that his numbers in the odd game that he got during his prime were very very good.

Apart from the overall tally of 1600 runs at 32.65 and 96 wickets at 37.30, there is the world record for highest number of Tests opening both batting and bowling, the feat of dismissing Wessels for two ducks, a hundred against the West Indian pace, courageous displays against bowlers of the calibre of Walsh, Imran, Hadlee, Allan Donald and Craig McDermott, and quite a few memories of prodigious swing rendering the ball virtually unplayable.

Averaged 56 with the bat in his comeback tour to Pakistan against Imran, Wasim and Waqar.

Comfortably outperformed Kapil in ODIs since his comeback in 89 as well - It turns out that from the day Prabhakar return to the big league in 1989 till Kapil’s eventual retirement from the game, the lesser man had been a significantly greater force for India in ODIs. In this period, to Kapil’s 975 runs at 17.41 and 92 wickets at 28.60, Prabhakar had 1,106 runs at 20.86 and 120 wickets at 24.89.


So we know he is a fixer and cheat but how good was he actually as a player? Let's keep the discussion away from the Tehelka sting and theories around it.

 

[IgnitedMind]

He blew hot and cold....great in 1 match...just horrible in the next.

but quite under rated.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Who knows how good the match fixers actually were - I mean when they performed badly did they do so because they were rubbish or did they do so because the fixers told them to?

 

[IgnitedMind]

Match fixing and relation to their stats is over rated....

They hardly fixed 2 or 3 matches their career... Azhar for all his faults...fixed 3 out of 400 he played...Jadeja scored a 90 in a match he was charged on.

 

[Vayuu]

Actually, prabhakar was very good , a very clever bowler, a very good batsmen, sadly ran into a emerging Jayasurya, during 1996 wc, not many guy know he later married farheen of Jaan tere naam fame (hum lakh chupaye pyar magar, duniya ko pata chal jayega ).

 

[moghul]

A cricketer with limited natural talent but an exceptionally smart one who utilized his capabilities with best possible way. A very very useful team man , would give 100% and a captains delight. Had no pace but a good opening bowler.

 

[Justcrazy]

Actually, prabhakar was very good , a very clever bowler, a very good batsmen, sadly ran into a emerging Jayasurya, during 1996 wc, not many guy know he later married farheen of Jaan tere naam fame (hum lakh chupaye pyar magar, duniya ko pata chal jayega ).

I know farheen personally. She was also married previously , she came from very humble background.

 

[troodon]

He was a very good swing bowler. Problem is that he bowled no more than 120k/h. Too easy to spot his swing.

When the ball wasn't swinging, he is a cannon fodder. But he had good yorker too.

I remember how Sanath Jayasuriya forced him to bowl spin. Poor Prabhakar. He was already over the hill by that time and had a humiliating end to his career. He should have retired before Sanath destroyed him.

His batting was cringeworthy most of the times. Very annoying batsman who scored at snails pace.

The funniest thing was that India could not find an all rounder of his calibre since he retired. India tried Robin Singh and many other countless all rounders and everyone failed miserably.

Overall, Prabhakar was a decent all rounder. A better bowler than a batsman.

 

[Navdeep Srivastava]

Very good odi cricketer.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

A cricketer with limited natural talent but an exceptionally smart one who utilized his capabilities with best possible way. A very very useful team man , would give 100% and a captains delight. Had no pace but a good opening bowler.

Well as a convicted fixer he was obviously Azhar's delight. Birds of a feather and all that......

Would give 100%? Come on man that's nonsense.

 

[IgnitedMind]

Well as a convicted fixer he was obviously Azhar's delight. Birds of a feather and all that......

Would give 100%? Come on man that's nonsense.

according to your logic...Azhar fixed all his 400 matches..and his 17000 runs were when he was fixing! Which means he was better than Tendu

 

[Napa]

Prabhakar was a great cricketer in terms of performance and an even greater tragedy in terms of his cricketing career.

I remember seeing him bowl, he would make the ball so much that the batsmen would keep playing and missing but not getting edges. In Karachi Dec 1989, he reduced Pakistan to 3-11 (Raja, Malik and Miandad) in a spell of 5-2-5-3 and soon after the crowd forced the game to be abandoned. Definitely was the most threatening Indian bowler of the late 1980s early 1990s.

During a time, when no other Indian bowler looked threatening, Prabhakar was a prince.

Yes, Jayasuriya blasted him, but it was drizzling and the wet ball wouldn't swing. Worse were all the controversies that followed, though it should be noted that the allegations of match-fixing were merely allegations and nothing more.

 

[Mainul]

I liked his bowling action.He used to wear wrist band or forearm band,sometimes head bands.It was a culture back then among pace bowlers which was really cute in my eyes.He was a very decent pace bowler.His ODI record tells it all.Average of 28 is good.He was also a capable bat.Not a hard hitting batsman, but he could contribute with the bat with crafty innings.

 

[Napa]

Well as a convicted fixer he was obviously Azhar's delight. Birds of a feather and all that......

Would give 100%? Come on man that's nonsense.

That is not true, he was never convicted of anything by any court. If you claim otherwise please provide a cite.

 

[troodon]

I liked his bowling action.He used to wear wrist band or forearm band,sometimes head bands.It was a culture back then among pace bowlers which was really cute in my eyes.He was a very decent pace bowler.His ODI record tells it all.Average of 28 is good.He was also a capable bat.Not a hard hitting batsman, but he could contribute with the bat with crafty innings.

He had a typical style very different to the rest of the Indian cricketers. I used to bowl with Prabhakar's bowling action. Used to think it was cool back in early 90's.

 

[Ind_Fan]

Manoj prabhakar was not a team man at all, selfish to the core. A case of talent down the drain like azhar, in his later career. Now evidences are hard to find as we are not interpol but the fans from that era who watched that Jaipur Odi vs Eng where manoj scored a cenrury and picked a 4 for or 5 for to the low of "saving" his wicket in that wi odi with the mongia. For the low point, check on youtube with the keyword "when you dont want to win". He could have been like Azhar Mahmood or Mudassar Nazar but a wasted talent is the truth. Also, his rise coincided with the decline of Kapil so his contribution, little as they were, important.

 

[Ind_Fan]

Just checked he does not have a century vs eng but vs wi, which is the shady one. My bad...

 

[PakLFC]

At best he was an average player. In an interview he spoke of how he was so very poorly treated by the Indian board and his then team mates. No team mate came to visit him in hospital when he as injured, he never played again.

 

[MMHS]

He was a very good utility cricketer, whom Azhar used almost in 3 fold.

What happens with most South Asian cricketer is that, we don't know when to quit. He was officially not even 33 when Sanath finished his career, but my hunch is he was few years older, with a dodgy knee & pot belly. Besides, his action was extremely stressful for a South Asian body. But, he was quite good with bat (most of his runs are as opener, where he averages almost 38), a decent swing bowler & an all-round fielder, who even fielded at first slip. He was very good with old ball as well.

I don't understand, how "spot fixing" helps to improve performance, unless the entire team is allowed by opponents to a certain result (in that case, all 22 or most players have to be involved in the script). By spot fixing, you can only under perform. Personally, I discount certain % with Wasim's bowling stats & add a good leverage with his batting stats, but I won't disclose why.

 

[Statsman]

Very good.......at wrong things...can't believe he had the balls to accuse other players of match fixing

What is more unbelievable is that he was later made bowling coach of the Delhi team that had players like Sehwag, Gambhir, Ishant, Nehra and Kohli and then head coach of Rajasthan. He also served as Afghanistan's coach. Shocking to see any management get this guy close to their players despite knowing that he was permanently banned by the BCCI from playing cricket.

Of course he contested elections as well as his CV was tailor made for that.

Sorry for digressing.

 

[Statsman]

He was a very good utility cricketer, whom Azhar used almost in 3 fold.

What happens with most South Asian cricketer is that, we don't know when to quit. He was officially not even 33 when Sanath finished his career, but my hunch is he was few years older, with a dodgy knee & pot belly. Besides, his action was extremely stressful for a South Asian body. But, he was quite good with bat (most of his runs are as opener, where he averages almost 38), a decent swing bowler & an all-round fielder, who even fielded at first slip. He was very good with old ball as well.

I don't understand, how "spot fixing" helps to improve performance, unless the entire team is allowed by opponents to a certain result (in that case, all 22 or most players have to be involved in the script). By spot fixing, you can only under perform. Personally, I discount certain % with Wasim's bowling stats & add a good leverage with his batting stats, but I won't disclose why.

You've made me curious.

 

[The_Odd_One]

He was one of the better cricketers from Indian team of that time. However, he was a trundler and a very limited batsman.

 

[Pantani]

That '96 WC game where he got took apart by Sanath really showed him up, because he opened the bowling and the batting both. He made 7 (36) opening the batting then conceded 47 in 4 overs opening the bowling. The contrast between him representing the old school cricketer and Jayasuriya the new breed of cricketer could not have been any greater. Faces 6 overs for 7 runs, bowls 4 overs for 47!

 

[Slog]

who cares.

he is an asterisk in history

 

[Napa]

who cares.

he is an asterisk in history

Any Indian cricketer who made an important contribution to the 7-0 streak is never an asterisk in history.

In 1992, though Sachin got the MoM award, it was Prabhakar who led the Indian bowling attack.

In his first spell his figures were 5-1-7-1, putting a lot of pressure on the Pakistani batsmen as they chased a low Indian total of 216.



In his second spell he was hit for a 4 by Salim Malik on the 3rd ball of his 6th over.

He immediately got Malik out the next ball.



Finished the game with figures of 10-1-22-2, the best figures for an Indian bowler as they successfully defended a low total.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW82779EH8c

 

[Xoib]

How can people claim cricket is losing popularity today it seems that are hardly 10k people to watch a marquee indo-pak world cup game in the above video

 

[RajBan]

He was part of the lobby during his time and benefitted immensely. Subrata Banerjee was a much better bowler than him, but did not get enough chance because Prabhakar was choice of the team management. Same fate for Utpal Chatterjee. He was the unanimous number 1 spinning all-rounder in domestic but Venkatapati Raju , a third grade bowler got chance after chance at the cost of Utpal's international career

 

[MP2011]

I still remember Prabhakar castling middle stump via a huge inswinger of unsuspecting Gooch in that 3-0 whitewash of England in '93.

 

[MP2011]

IIRC, he also fought an election and lost miserably.

 

[Robert]

I still remember Prabhakar castling middle stump via a huge inswinger of unsuspecting Gooch in that 3-0 whitewash of England in '93.

As I recall he was better than Kapil in that series. Kapil kept getting picked to pass Hadlee, not because he was still effective.

 

[Ram Shekhar]

who cares.

he is an asterisk in history

Genuine question.. will Amir be treated the same way?

 

[goran]

Prabhakar was a trundler with a dodgy action. He was lucky to play in an era when the laws on bowlers' action were not that strict.

 

[Slog]

Genuine question.. will Amir be treated the same way?

Amir was instrumental in 2009T20 and CT17 successes

 

[hur rizvi]

He had an Kulasekara/Anwar-Ali pre action change like in swinger

 

[hur rizvi]

Genuine question.. will Amir be treated the same way?

Never, any convicted player would never be treated the same

 

[Napa]

He was part of the lobby during his time and benefitted immensely. Subrata Banerjee was a much better bowler than him, but did not get enough chance because Prabhakar was choice of the team management. Same fate for Utpal Chatterjee. He was the unanimous number 1 spinning all-rounder in domestic but Venkatapati Raju , a third grade bowler got chance after chance at the cost of Utpal's international career

I do not know specifically about the players you mention, but the 1990s were the Raj Singh Dungarpur era of Indian cricket. Nepotism and cronyism was rampant and as a result the Indian team was usually sub-standard.

Prabhakar though was a pretty good bowler for a few years, and a decent batsman too who opened the innings.

 

[Ram Shekhar]

Amir was instrumental in 2009T20 and CT17 successes

I'm sensing double standards here. You had quite the opposite view before Amir came back, back in 2016

 

[Justcrazy]

Actually, prabhakar was very good , a very clever bowler, a very good batsmen, sadly ran into a emerging Jayasurya, during 1996 wc, not many guy know he later married farheen of Jaan tere naam fame (hum lakh chupaye pyar magar, duniya ko pata chal jayega ).

I know farheen very well . She acted in 6 to 7 movies. She was projected as Madhuri Dixt lookalike

 

[MenInG]

The Delhi Police registered a case of cheating and trespassing against former India cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, his wife, son and two others on Thursday, officials said.

A senior police officer said that they had received a complaint from a woman, identified as Sandhya Sharma Pandit, who lives in London.

In her complaint, the woman claimed that she owns a flat on the second floor of an apartment in Sarvapriya Vihar in south Delhi. Prabhakar lives with his family on the first floor of the building. She alleged that Prabhakar broke into her house and illegally lodged his friend there.

In her compliant, the woman mentioned that the flat was purchased from a builder in 1995 by her husband Laxmi Chand Pandit. The couple lived in the flat till 2006 before they shifted to London. Later, the flat was used by some of her relatives. In 2018, her relatives vacated the flat and it had been locked since then.

According to the police, the woman said that she was informed by neighbours that someone is staying in her flat. In September, she came to Delhi and when tried to enter the flat, however, the occupant denied entry to her.

“The woman claimed that when she tried to raise the issue, she was threatened with dire consequences. She claimed that her flat was encroached upon by Prabhakar and others on the basis of forged documents,” said the officer.

During initial investigation, the police found that Manoj Goyal, a property dealer, who is also one of the accused in the case has prepared forged papers and helped Prabhakar to occupy the flat.

“After going through initial investigation, a case has been registered at Malviya Nagar police station. We will call Prabhakar for questioning,” said a police officer.

Prabhakar has rejected the allegations made against him by the woman. He said that he has been living in the flat on the first floor for the past 23 years and has never seen the woman. “We do not know anything about the woman. I don’t know who lives on the second floor,” said Prabhakar.

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news...ormer-cricketer-manoj-prabhakar-family-900190

 

[EliteCynical]

The Delhi Police registered a case of cheating and trespassing against former India cricketer Manoj Prabhakar, his wife, son and two others on Thursday, officials said.

A senior police officer said that they had received a complaint from a woman, identified as Sandhya Sharma Pandit, who lives in London.

In her complaint, the woman claimed that she owns a flat on the second floor of an apartment in Sarvapriya Vihar in south Delhi. Prabhakar lives with his family on the first floor of the building. She alleged that Prabhakar broke into her house and illegally lodged his friend there.

In her compliant, the woman mentioned that the flat was purchased from a builder in 1995 by her husband Laxmi Chand Pandit. The couple lived in the flat till 2006 before they shifted to London. Later, the flat was used by some of her relatives. In 2018, her relatives vacated the flat and it had been locked since then.

According to the police, the woman said that she was informed by neighbours that someone is staying in her flat. In September, she came to Delhi and when tried to enter the flat, however, the occupant denied entry to her.

“The woman claimed that when she tried to raise the issue, she was threatened with dire consequences. She claimed that her flat was encroached upon by Prabhakar and others on the basis of forged documents,” said the officer.

During initial investigation, the police found that Manoj Goyal, a property dealer, who is also one of the accused in the case has prepared forged papers and helped Prabhakar to occupy the flat.

“After going through initial investigation, a case has been registered at Malviya Nagar police station. We will call Prabhakar for questioning,” said a police officer.

Prabhakar has rejected the allegations made against him by the woman. He said that he has been living in the flat on the first floor for the past 23 years and has never seen the woman. “We do not know anything about the woman. I don’t know who lives on the second floor,” said Prabhakar.

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news...ormer-cricketer-manoj-prabhakar-family-900190

While this is nothing new in New Delhi (My own aunt had to go through this ordeal, when she came back from US to find someone staying in her apartment), it is really sad that once the torchbearer to expose corruption, himself has stooped down to this level. I thought he was doing decently when he was appointed bowling coach of Afghanistan. If proven, I hope he gets jailed, but then again fate has a great sense of irony. The people he set out to expose for corruption in 1999 never got convicted!

 

[Bhaijaan]

What i liked most about him is he along with Sidhu, Dev and Kuruvilla were the few Indian players who instilled fear into Pakistani batsmen and bowlers.

He was the Gautam Gambhir,Virat Kohli of his era attitude wise. He was fearless.

 

[MP2011]

As I recall he was better than Kapil in that series. Kapil kept getting picked to pass Hadlee, not because he was still effective.

Very true. Kapil was being persevered with the only aim of him overtaking Hadlee. However in ODIs Kapil was still very economical, his economy rate during his final few years as cricketer was under 4.

 

[MenInG]

Former India all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar recalled how he once got the better of Pakistan's talisman Imran Khan during a Wills Trophy match at Sharjah on October 23, 1991. In what was the last league game before the final, Pakistan beat India by four runs, with Aamer Sohail winning the Man-of-the-Match for his 133-ball 91.

Prabhakar, who bowled nine overs for 62, took the solitary wicket of Imran; cleaning up the former Pakistan skipper after he had hammered 43 of just 24 deliveries. Prabhakar vividly remembers Imran's wicket for the drama that had preceded the dismissal. "This was around the time I had introduced reverse swing In India... I had control [while] bowling at a good pace with the old ball. When Imran came to the crease, I looked at Kapil Paaji, who was standing at mid-on, and said, 'Tell me where to bowl to him'. He wanted me to bowl closer to the wicket," Prabhakar said.

"Picking reverse swing wasn't very hard and this was against a team, credited with inventing the art [of reverse swing]. I bowled a reverse swinging delivery and he (Imran) hit me for a six... Kapil Paaji asked me to bowl the same line. This time, I bowled a yorker-length delivery and Imran made room and hit me out of the stadium!"

Imran's innings, studded with four fours and two sixes, was instrumental in Pakistan reaching an eventually match-winning total of 257/7. Prabhakar revealed how he set up the World Cup-winning former all-rounder. "I bowled a beamer at Imran ... then I realised [wicketkeeper] Kiran More was lying down on the ground. I pretended it [the ball] had slipped from my hand but it hadn't! I walked up to Imran, said sorry and returned to the mark. The next delivery, he was probably expecting another beamer, but this time I bowled a slower delivery and he was clean bowled, beaten by lack of pace."

Prabhakar, who remained unbeaten on 19, bore the brunt of Pakistan quicks Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis during the run-chase. The duo kept targetting Prabhakar's body. "I told them [Waqar and Wasim], ' I'm showing my stumps... why are you bowling at my body?' 'We've instructions from our skipper Imran Khan to not get you out... the plan is to hit you," Prabhakar recalled in jest.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cric...india-vs-pakistan-sharjah/article31462257.ece

 

[Bhaijaan]

A fearless chap. He was definitely a much better batsman than any Pakistani AR except Imran

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

"I bowled a beamer at Imran ... then I realised [wicketkeeper] Kiran More was lying down on the ground. I pretended it [the ball] had slipped from my hand but it hadn't..."
.




That was nasty!

 

[Ab Fan]

He was basically a similar version to Irfan Pathan.

Irfan Pathan obviously a better man to look forward to for youngsters than Prabhakar who was accused of match-fixing.

 

[MenInG]

Dubai: Manoj Prabhakar, the controversial Indian allrounder who was banned by the Indian cricket board for five years for his alleged involvement in match-fixing alongwith a few other prominent names, will eventually receive his benevolent found and monthly gratis(equivalent of pension) after a wait of 15 long years.

Confirming this to Gulf News during a telephonic interview, Ashok Malhotra, president of Indian Cricket Association (ICA), said he has been given ‘‘assurance’’ on this by Sourav Ganguly, President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). ‘‘After his ban ended in 2005, Prabhakar has served as coach for a number of state teams like Delhi, Rajasthan while he was also the bowling coach of the Afghanistan national team. This shows the BCCI had no other misgivings about his involvement with cricket,’’ said Malhotra.

Life had been rather hectic for the 63-year-old Malhotra, a stylish Indian middle order batsman and member of India’s 1985 Benson & Henson World Championship-winning team, ever since he was elected to head the cricketers’ body - formed last year at the behest of the Supreme Court to look after the cricketers’ interests. The association, incidentally, was a part of the recommendations of the erstwhile Justice R.M.Lodha Committee as part of the suggested reforms in Indian cricket.

We need the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to join the association for it to improve the lot of cricketers in the country. The greats of the game in our country have not come from above, but have been a product of our cricketing ecosystem only
- Ashok Malhotra, President of Indian Cricketers' Association
The ICA has, for a start, managed to raise a corpus of Rs 6.4 million, comprising largely of contributions from their members which include some of the Indian cricketing legends as well as former cricketers staying abroad, to provide financial relief to 36 former first class cricketers - who had been in some kind of financial distress during this period of COVID-19 pandemic.

‘‘We asked for applications from cricketers who have played less than 25 first class matches - as they will not be elgible for the BCCI’s benevolent fund. For us, even if somebody has played one first class match has also served the cause of Indian cricket and some of them are really struggling for survival. The amount which we will be giving out may be modest but it’s a small step in the right direction,’’ Malhotra said.

The ICA has classified the former cricketers into three categories, based on their age-group and current income, and will be paying them a maximum of Rs 100,000 in Category A, Rs 80,000 and Rs 60,000 for B & C, respectively.

‘‘The board of directors of the ICA has really worked hard to raise the amount and I must especially thank Anshuman Gaekwad - who had put in a tremendous effort behind mobilising funds. Several stalwarts of Indian cricket like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid came forward with their contributions, while a handful of them who contributed did not want any kind of publicity,’’ Malhotra said.

Looking forward, the feisty Malhotra feels that the cricketers’ body will raise the bar so that they can join the FICA (Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations). ‘‘It’s not good enough to serve the cause of retired cricketers only. We need the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to join the association for it to improve the lot of cricketers in the country. The greats of the game in our country have not come from above, but have been a product of our cricketing ecosystem only. We have placed four demands before Ganguly, the first former captain to be the BCCI president, and hope they will be addressed sooner than later,’’ he added.

ICA’s charter of demand

1. Double the purse for pension of former first class cricketers (right now, only .54% of the BCCI’s annual revenue is spent for the pension fund).

2. Amount of Medical Insurance be raised from Rs 500,000 to one million, or have group insurance.

3. Family or dependant of the cricketer should continue to get the pension after his/her death.

4. The elgibility of pension be lowered from 25 first class matches to 10 first class matches.

https://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/...ension-15-years-after-his-ban-ends-1.71675022

 

[big_gamer007]

He was good in helpful swing bowling conditions. Lacked pace but had a beautiful out swinger which could trouble any batsman.

Problem with fixers is you won't know how good they "could" have been. However, in case of prabhakar we can safely assume he would have, at best, been average.

 

[MenInG]

Former Indian star all rounder and Ranji trophy winning coach, Mr. Manoj Prabhakar from India has been appointed as the Head Coach of Nepal National Cricket Team.

Mr. Prabhakar has played 39 Test matches and 130 One Day Internationals for India. As a Coach, he has experience

 

[daytrader]

Former India player takes over as Nepal head coach

Former India cricketer Manoj Prabhakar has been appointed as Nepal head coach, the Cricket Association of Nepal stated on Monday, 8 August.

Prabhakar will succeed Pubudu Dassanayake, who recently resigned from his position and took over as the head coach of the Canada men's team.

Prabhakar was a bowling all-rounder for India and represented his country in 169 internationals. He has worked as a head coach for three Ranji Trophy teams, and served as bowling coach for Afghanistan in 2016.

Confirming his appointment, a statement by Cricket Association of Nepal read: "Former Indian star all-rounder and Ranji trophy winning coach, Mr. Manoj Prabhakar from India has been appointed as the Head Coach of Nepal National Cricket Team.

"Mr. Prabhakar has played 39 Test matches and 130 One Day Internationals for India. As a Coach, he has experience of working as coach of Afghanistan Cricket Team along with Ranji Trophy teams of Delhi, Rajasthan and UP Cricket Association."

Prabhakar said the talent in Nepal cricket was something that excited him. "Seeing the interest for cricket in Nepal, their talent & skill level, I’m really looking forward to working with the Nepal cricket team to make them into a cricketing force to be reckoned with."

Prabhakar's appointment comes at a pivotal time in Nepal cricket. They have been struggling in international cricket of late, having missed out on qualification to the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, with Ireland and UAE making it from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier A tournament in Oman.

Nepal are currently placed second from the bottom, with eight wins in 20 matches in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 table.

ICC

 

[umerz]

I dont think he was world class but I think he was better than Robin Singh who was also average

 

[TheSultan]

Swinging dibbly dobbler with a pathetic action. Sums up most Indian seamers

 

[Buffet]

I have a faint recollection of him batting with some keeper and intentionally dead batting when required rate was below 6. Seemed dodgy to me when watching.

 

[NishanKonar]

I have a faint recollection of him batting with some keeper and intentionally dead batting when required rate was below 6. Seemed dodgy to me when watching.

Still remember that infamous ODI. It was India vs West Indies at Kanpur in 1994. India needed 60 of the last 6 overs. Prabhakar and Nayan Mongia deliberately dead batted and lost India the match. The most clear cut example of match fixing

Earlier in the day Mongia and Prabhakar messed up an easy run out in very comic fashion !

Was glad to see Prabhkar's career ended in humiliation after a severe mauling by Sanath Jayasuriya during the 1996 Word Cup. Bit similar to the Ross Taylor treatment of Shoaib Akhtar

 

[RamLakhan]

I remember this as a very small kid - a match abandoned due to crowd disruption (this was way before India vs Srilanka 1996 SF, as Pakistanis keep reminding about this! Pakistani crowd had issues with a Jamodi match where they could have even come back, not even 20% of the match was played!)

In this match Prabhakar had insane figures of 5-2-5-3
https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...akistan-vs-india-3rd-odi-64347/full-scorecard

I think Manoj Prabhakar was capable of producing such thing (both with ball and bat, more so with ball). I think his mind was not in proper shape (match-fixing, etc), otherwise he would have achieved much more!

 

[wrongun]

I do not know specifically about the players you mention, but the 1990s were the Raj Singh Dungarpur era of Indian cricket. Nepotism and cronyism was rampant and as a result the Indian team was usually sub-standard.

Prabhakar though was a pretty good bowler for a few years, and a decent batsman too who opened the innings.

I watched him in 92 WC and when he toured Oz around that time. He had some talent & could swing the ball, but as others say he didn't quite have the pace. He managed about 20 wickets across 5 tests though- he could definitely play. Had all sorts of slower balls in an era when maybe only S Waugh and one or two others really had variations of them.

His batting was handy at that stage. Made a couple of scores including on the bouncy GABBA but he was batting down the order in tests- pretty handy #8. Maybe he opened in ODI, I forget.

Having him open both bowling and batting was probably a reflection his own talents - he had some- but also the lack of depth around that team. He wasn't really good enough to do either of those full time.

I agree with those who said he looked fairly stylish when he played.