Manoj Prabhakar was a regular in the Indian side in the early 1990s. His bowling was his strongest suit; Prabhakar mixed cunning slower balls with in- and outswing, and on his day he could be a formidable opponent with the new ball. He once bowled Kepler Wessels for 0 in consecutive Tests - the only ducks Wessels bagged for South Africa in Tests or one-dayers - although he'd be less likely to tell his grandchildren that he was Allan Lamb's only Test wicket. Generally Prabhakar was a useful lower-order batsman, who was turned into a defensive, platform-laying opener to good effect against England in 1992-93. India won only one of Prabhakar's first 23 Tests, then 10 of his last 16, but his career ended in ignominy when he was booed on his home ground at Delhi after getting slaughtered (4-0-47-0) against Sri Lanka in the 1995-96 World Cup. Prabhakar was dropped for the next match and immediately retired. His attempts to implicate others in the match-fixing controversy backfired when he was banned himself for his own alleged involvement. He continued to stay in the news by entering politics and standing unsuccessfully for Parliament. He later took to coaching, and served as Delhi's bowling coach before taking over Rajasthan ahead of the 2009-10 season. Aside from cricket, he heads Naturence Cosmetics.
Rob Smyth and Cricinfo Staff July 2009