Venkatesh Prasad’s wards may not have covered themselves in glory after RCB slumped to yet another defeat, failing to defend 174 on a pitch that offered more even handed bounce as the Kings XI Punjab chase got underway, but the Prasad household has erupted in joy for altogether different reasons: ICC has retrospectively reclassified the former Team India Test bowler as a right arm spin bowler in the mould of Derek Underwood.
The change was made after a ICC special committee headed by a combination of former Test bowlers scrutinized footage of Prasad’s bowling spells from the past and concluded that in no way could he be called a ‘right arm medium fast bowler’. “His typical over consisted of a slow bowl travelling at 110 kmph before exponentially decaying to 90 kmph. So we decided to drop ‘medium’ from the record books all together and simply describe him as a ‘very, very slow’ bowler,” disclosed an ICC spokesperson.
Prasad will now join the pantheon of legendary Indian spinners such as Bedi, Prasanna,Chandraskehkar and Venkataraghavan with this change to the record books. “I stand vindicated now, man,” said a tearful Venkatesh, as he hugged his well-wishers after the ICC announcement. “I used to hate it when people used to make derisive comments about my slow leg-cutters, not realizing that they were actually leg-breaks,” he noted in an emotionally choked voice.
Prasad’s peers have lauded the ICC for setting the record straight and correcting a historic wrong. “Prasad’s contributions go beyond leading the Indian attack or taking Sohail’s wicket in the 1996 World Cup quarter-finals. He helped many Indian batsmen, especially me, develop the qualities of patience and concentration considering the inordinate length of time it took for his balls to travel to the wicket-keeper after two bounces,” said betting legend, Dravid, in an emotional tribute to his fellow Bangalorean.
The change has inspired another bowling great, Anil Kumble, to petition the ICC to also have a re-look at his graph and slot him as a right arm medium fast Indian bowler. “I consistently bowled faster than many of the current crop of Indian fast bowlers such as Munaf and Praveen Kumar and if they are labeled as fast bowlers, I should be too,” reasoned Jumbo.