It’s been a year since Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh were handed one-year contracts to join India’s support staff as bowling and fielding coach respectively. Back then, the team was in the doldrums, having just exited from the first round of the World Cup in the West Indies.Prasad and Singh’s contracts ended on May 30 and, though they have been asked to accompany the Indian team for the tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan, the cricket board is yet to decide on renewing them.“They will be touring Bangladesh and Pakistan. After the team returns, the board will decide on the future course of action. When we sit down to pick a new physio for the team, we will also decide on Prasad and Singh,” BCCI’s chief administration officer Ratnakar Shetty told The Indian Express.With former South African opener Gary Kirsten taking over as the new coach of the Indian team, there has been speculation that Kirsten may want to replace Prasad and Singh with support staff selected by him. The board is not willing to comment on the issue, and their stance is to wait until the Test tour of Sri Lanka in July.Prasad and Singh just concluded their stints as coaches of the Bangalore and Hyderabad IPL teams respectively, and their teams finished at the bottom of the table.Meanwhile, the board has asked chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar to select a list of 20 players to train at the National Cricket Academy. With the NCA starting a bowling academy, the likes of Laxmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra — back in the spotlight in the IPl after a long gap — have been selected.Other fringe bowlers such as Munaf Patel, VRV Singh, Ajit Agarkar, youngsters Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Sudeep Tyagi, Ashok Dinda and Manpreet Singh Gony have also been picked.The NCA is inviting biomechanic expert John Harmer for a four-week camp with these players. Vengsarkar has also forwarded the names of a few batsmen and wicket-keepers who impressed in the IPL to train at the academy. These names include Swapnil Asnodkar, Ravi Teja, Wriddhiman Saha, Yogesh Takawale, Rakesh Dhruv and Mohnish Parmar.
