KP Bhaskar retained as Delhi team chief coach and Manoj Prabhakar named bowling coach

The Madan Lal-led Cricket Affairs Committee (CAC) announced the appointment of Manoj Prabhakar, as the bowling coach of the Delhi Ranji team. The committee also decided to retain the services of KP Bhaskar in the capacity of the chief coach of the Delhi team, despite poor results in the last domestic season. Former India fast bowling all-rounder will replace Amit Bhandari.

Prabhakar is not a new name in the Delhi team’s coaching staff, as he has been with the Ranji team in the past as the chief coach for the 2010-11 season. The committee further named Rajkumar Sharma as the coach of the Delhi Under-23 side. Rajkumar, who runs a coaching academy named West Delhi Cricket Academy, is an experienced person for the job and is surprisingly the childhood coach of the present Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

The committee head Lal explained its decision to give Bhaskar a second chance, in a conversation with PTI. “We had to give Bhaskar a second chance. One year is not enough time to judge someone’s capability as a coach. The committee is confident that he will do a better job this year,” stated Lal, as quoted by Times of India.

Argument between Gambhir and Bhaskar

Earlier, KP Bhaskar and senior Delhi Ranji team player Gautam Gambhir were involved in an aggressive argument, which led to the latter getting suspended by a disciplinary committee headed by Madan Lal. When asked about the heated argument Gambhir said, “Bhaskar was playing with careers of youngsters and creating divide in the dressing room”.

However, the committee head Lal termed the incident as a sensitive one and advised everyone to move forward with this issue. “Things like these happen sometimes but we have to move ahead in life. Hopefully, it will be better this time,” he said.

Want to help Delhi cricket

A former India cricketer Prabhakar stated that his ideas and different ways of taking the team forward in the longer-run. “I want to help Delhi cricket in any capacity possible. Things haven’t been too well and we need to clean the mess,” Prabhakar said.

The committee also decided to retain the services of Atul Wasan as the chairman of the senior selection committee along with Robin Singh Junior and Hari Gidwani was named a new member of the panel.