‘People might write anything but...’: MSK Prasad speaks about relationship with MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli

Indian cricket has always been about strong personalities and how to get the best out of them is perhaps the biggest task for the selectors and the coaching staff. MSK Prasad, who had a roller-coaster of a ride as the chief selector has spoken about his relationship with the likes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli - two people who have had a profound impact on Indian cricket.

Prasad spoke about his relationship with the players and said that he was always open to speaking with Kohli and Dhoni.

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“During this tenure, I used to take advice from legendary cricketers which helped. My relationship with MSD (MS Dhoni) and [Virat] Kohli is intact. People might write anything but when I speak to them, I know how much they respect me,” he told Mumbai Mirror.

Speaking about his tenure, Prasad said that he knew how to manage personalities as he was a management student and that he was also the director at the Andhra Cricket Association where he built the system from scratch.

“I am a management student and at Andhra Cricket Association (where he was director of cricket), I dealt with much bigger issues than here,” he said. “We built Andhra association from scratch where people were not motivated to work. When Anurag Thakur came to Andhra in 2015, he called it ‘Adarsh Cricket Association’. BCCI is an evolved place, you have mature people. I don’t think I had a tough time here because I had gone through a lot of stress working in Andhra,” he further added.

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Barring a few contentious calls, the selection panel has given due recognition to the domestic structure and has worked in close sync with the A-team and this is what Prasad wants his tenure to be remembered for.

“Myself, the India A management and the Indian management sit down and discuss the progress of a player,” he said. “We look at the requirements of the senior team and groom a player based on that.”