Erapalli Prasanna

Erapalli Prasanna was one of India's legendary spinners and along with Venkataraghavan, Chandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi, formed the famous Indian spin quartet. Prasanna was an off spinner, and made his debut against England in Madras (now Chennai) in 1961. He was part of the Indian team that travelled to West Indies, and did not impress much in the series. He quit the sport for a period, and took a 5 year break to complete his undergraduate degree.

Prasanna's best days came after he returned in 1967. Under the late MAK Pataudi, Prasanna developed as a lethal bowler who could take wickets on any track. Prasanna had terrific control over his flight and had the ability to defeat the batsmen in the air, and was often unplayable in the dusty sub continent pitches. The spin quartet enjoyed tremendous success in the 1970s, but a ll 4 played together in only 1 match, as either Prasanna or Venkataraghavan would be left out due to zonal politics. Prasanna retired after a tour of Pakistan in 1978, a series which also saw the decline of Bedi and Chandrasekhar.

Prasanna twice led his state Karnataka to Ranji trophy titles, and was instrumental in ending Bombay's (now Mumbai) 15 year reign. He joined the rebel Indian Cricket League in 2007, but took amnesty when the BCCI offered it in the year 2009. He even wrote an autobiography titled "One More Over".

By Karthik Lakshmanan