BIPIN DANI
Former India allrounder Manoj Prabhakar, who left the Nepal coaching job after only four months was "asked to resign", it is learnt. According to well-placed sources in Nepal, the 59-year-old Prabhakar was asked to submit his resignation.
"The players were not happy with his method of coaching. He was ignoring the senior players. He used to change the settled batting line-up often and was trying to make the batsmen bowlers. In short, we were not happy with this style of coaching and didn't want the CAN (Cricket Association of Nepal) to suffer. It was a bad experience to have him as our coach", one of the sources explained.
He had been appointed to the role for a one year tenure in August this year. "We had asked him to resign and his contract was terminated prematurely".
When contacted, Manoj Prabhakar initially refused to talk, but when pressed more, he said, "yes, I have left coaching the team. It was the best decision to resign for the sake of self-respect".
He also defended the decision to change the batting order. "The decision to change the batting order was taken in the interest of the team keeping in mind the bowling strategy of the opposite team. And, how can I change the batsman to a bowler? I asked the all-rounders to bowl. During my stint, we won against Kenya and the UAE".
Sadly, the CAN's last three coaches (Dav Whatmore, Pubudu Dassanayake and Manoj Prabhakar) have resigned before the expiry of their contracts.
Prabhakar returned to Delhi on December 12.
Manoj Prabhakar had brought the new Indian trainer (Abdul Sattar) with him. "Sattar, the former cricketer is a good trainer and we have retained him", the source further added.
The CAN is trying to hire the services of a new coach soon. Their team is scheduled to play League-2 matches against Scotland and Namibia in February 2023.
