Name:

Prasanna, Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas

Nickname:

Pras

Date of Birth:

22 May 1940

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore, British India

Career:

Test: 1962 - 1978

Teams:

India (Country)

Shastri, O’Keeffe pick their all time best Indian spinners

Erapalli Prasanna was one of the finest off-spin bowlers produced by India and a leading figure in the famous Indian spin quartet of the 1960s and 1970s alongside Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

Born in Bangalore on 22 May 1940, Prasanna combined classical off-spin with exceptional flight, drift and tactical intelligence. He played 49 Test matches for India between 1962 and 1978, taking 189 wickets at an average of 30.38, with best innings figures of 8/76 and 10 five-wicket hauls.  

Prasanna’s greatness lay not in extravagant turn, but in his ability to deceive batters in the air. He was especially effective during India’s rise as a competitive overseas Test side under Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

In India’s historic first overseas series victory in New Zealand in 1968, Prasanna was the leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets at 18.79 as India won the four-Test series 3–1.   He was also remarkably quick to milestones, becoming the fastest bowler at the time to reach both 100 Test wickets (20 Tests) and 150 wickets (34 Tests).  

Away from cricket, Prasanna was known for his intellectual approach to the game and for completing his engineering degree during a long gap early in his international career.

In first-class cricket he captured 957 wickets in 235 matches at an average of 23.45, underlining his longevity and dominance in domestic cricket.

He later became a respected cricket writer, commentator and mentor to younger spinners, with modern players such as Ravichandran Ashwin often acknowledging the influence of Prasanna’s philosophy and artistry in spin bowling.