Manoj Prabhakar Resigns As Chief Coach Of Uttar Pradesh
May 16, 2017 at 2:37 PM
Manoj Prabhakar, the former Indian all-rounder, has resigned as the Chief Coach of Uttar Pradesh Cricket team. He was assigned the role before the start of the previous domestic season for a period of maximum two years but now has relinquished the post after one season, citing personal reasons,
“Last year, international cricketer Manoj Prabhakar was roped in as a coach for UP’s Ranji team. His contract was for a maximum period of two years, but before his contract is over, Prabhakar tendered his resignation,” Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association secretary Yudhvir Singh told PTI from Meerut.
Prabhakar replaced Rizwan Shamshad as the coach of the side last year. Along with him, Heath Streak, the former Zimbabwe all-rounder was appointed as the consultant of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Academy Academy.
Under Prabhakar, UP had a torrid season as they finished on the seventh rank in Ranji Trophy with just 13 points in the account as they could just win one game and suffered a loss in four games. Further, the team went on to lose four out of five games in interstate Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as well. In Vijay Hazare Trophy, the team failed to qualify for the second round as they had an equal number of wins and losses in six games.
The poor performance in the season is probably the reason behind Prabhakar giving up the role. One of the reasons for the team not doing well in the season was absenteeism of Suresh Raina from the side as the UP captain played in just three Ranji games and went onto skip T20 and List A tournaments, despite being named in the side.
The state association has decided to table a meeting in the month of June to appoint a new coach for the upcoming season.
Other state associations as well have started preparing for preparing for the upcoming season as Kerala Cricket Association recently named their prefatory squad. They also appointed Dev Whatmore the coach for the upcoming season. Whatmore has had coaching stints with many international teams in past, which also includes one with World Cup winning Sri Lankan side in their trophy triumph.