On a day when fans were weighing the pros and cons of changes made to the Indian ODI squad for the home series against Australia, the BCCI sacked bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad and fielding coach Robin Singh without giving reasons for the dumping.

All that a BCCI release said was that “the services of Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh are being discontinued with immediate effect.” Later in the day, it was learnt that the decision was based on a report filed by coach Gary Kirsten to BCCI president Shashank Manohar after India’s Champions Trophy debacle. According to a top BCCI official, Kirsten had blamed bowling and fielding for the first-round exit in South Africa. “He also mentioned that Ishant Sharma wasn’t the bowler he once was. This is the first step, we will be naming the replacements after consulting Kirsten. Right now there is no short-list,” the official said.

When contacted in Bangalore, Prasad said it was a bolt from the blue. “I called BCCI secretary N Srinivasan and he told me that the decision was taken because the recent show by our bowlers was not up to the mark. I was disappointed and shocked,” Prasad told The Indian Express. “I didn’t see this coming.”

Prasad said it was the first mail he got from the BCCI since taking over as bowling coach in 2007. “Robin and I never got a contract. We had mailed them several times in the last two years, requesting for a contract with proper terms and conditions and the duration of our tenure. But they never replied,” he said.

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