MSK Prasad looks back to his stint as India's chief selector, says he and his team gave the best

The tenure of MSK Prasad as the chief of India’s selection panel, an eventful one, has come to an end. There was speculation that he could get an extension till the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly ruled it out. The 44-year-old opened up on his service post its completion and said he had no regrets.

Even though the Prasad-led selection panel came under fire often especially because of its members’ thin international experience as players, there is no denying that India became one of the best cricketing sides in the world when the same body held charge.

Prasad, a former India wicket-keeper-batsman who had represented the country for a brief period between May 1998 and January 2000, became the chief of the selection committee in 2015. Gagan Khoda also earned his call alongside Prasad while the likes of Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjpe and Sarandeep Singh came a year later. It was during this panel’s tenure that India played top-class cricket in all formats.

They played impressive cricket in a number of ICC tournaments during this period, including the ICC World Cup in 2016, Champions Trophy in 2017 and the ICC World Cup this year but fell short of winning the crown in any of them. Prasad, however, said that he is happy to leave behind a good bench strength for captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri. Prasad would have loved to see India going for another world title in the T20 format next year but that was not to be.

“That [extension of tenures] is not up to me to talk. BCCI will do whatever it deems fit. Whatever the policy is, the BCCI has to follow,” MSK was quoted as saying by India Today. “I don’t think so (regret ending tenure just a year before T20 World Cup). For everything, there is a time factor. Whatever time that you have, you should look to give your best. We have done it, I think.”

‘Have left enough bench strength’ – MSK Prasad 

“We have left enough bench strength. If the team can get the combinations right, I am sure India will win the T20 World Cup next year,” he added. MSK Prasad also had a word of praise for the current Indian pace bowling and called it the “best in the world”.

“The pace battery is the biggest plus point over the last 3 years. Definitely, no doubt that we have the best fast bowling unit at the moment,” he added.

He said not just seniors like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami or Ishant Sharma but also the youngsters have started showing their potential and it was made possible by effective management of India ‘A’.