Kathmandu: Former Indian national team all-rounder and Ranji Trophy winning coach Manoj Prabhakar has been appointed as the head coach of the Nepali national cricket team.
Prabhakar has played 39 Test matches for India and 130 One Day International. Nepal Cricket Association (CAN) issued a statement on Monday and said that Prabhakar has been appointed as the head coach.
CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand informed that Prabhakar was contracted for one year. He also said that the trainer will come to Nepal within a few days and the training will be started.
Nepal was without a coach after Pubudu Dasanayake resigned from the post after returning from playing the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two in Scotland.
Prabhakar has worked as a coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. Similarly, he has coached Delhi, Rajasthan and UP Cricket Association in Ranji Trophy.
After being appointed coach, Prabhakar responded and said that he is eager to work in Nepali cricket. “Looking at Nepal’s interest in cricket, their talent and skill level, I am really looking forward to working to strengthen the Nepali cricket team,” he said.
Prabhakar played for the Indian national team for more than a decade. Prabhakar, who made his Test debut against England in December 1984, played his last Test against New Zealand in 1995.
Similarly, he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in April 1984. He played his last ODI against Sri Lanka in 1996. A bowling all-rounder, Prabhakar took 96 wickets in 39 Tests and 157 wickets in 130 ODIs. His highest score in the test was 120. He scored 1,600 runs in Tests with 1 century and 9 fifties.
He scored 10858 runs in ODIs. His highest ODI score was 106. Having played 154 first-class cricket matches, he has scored more than 7,000 runs and taken 385 wickets.
He also played in the 1987, 1992 and 1996 ODI World Cups. Prabhakar from Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh, who batted in the lower order, also opened in a match.
