Long before the introduction of Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin, there was an Indian off-spinner who would torment the opposition batsmen with his turning deliveries. Well, the name is Erapalli Prasanna and the legendary bowler celebrates his 80th birthday on Friday (May 22, 2020). The Tamil Nadu-born spinner possessed the ability to spin the ball both ways and the bucket of variations in his arsenal made him even more lethal. Below, we'll look at some of the lesser-known facts of the bowler as he turns a year older. Ajit Wadekar Birth Anniversary Special: Lesser-Known Facts About Former Indian Test Captain.

Prasanna made his Test debut way back in January 1962. He didn't make a blistering start to his international career and he even took a five-year break to complete his studies. However, he returned aa a completely different bowler in 1967 and became a vital cog of the team. His ability to flight the ball and deceive the batsmen in the air became a nemesis for many teams. Riding on his abilities, Prasanna took 189 wickets from 49 Test matches. Now, let's look at some of his lesser-known facts.

  1. Erapalli Prasanna was born on 22 May, 1940, in Bangalore, India.

  2. The off-spinner made his Test debut against England in Chennai on January 10, 1962.

  3. He was also a part of India’s famous spin quartet consisting Srinivas Venkataraghavan, BS Chandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi.

  4. The spin magician is the second fastest Indian bowler to scalp 100 wickets. He achieved the milestone in his 20th game.

  5. Prasanna took 24 wickets in four Tests during India’s 1968 Tour of New Zealand and played a vital role in guiding India to their first-ever overseas Test series victory.

  6. The former off-spinner led Karnataka to the Ranji Trophy title twice.

  7. He received the prestigious Padma Shri Award in the Year 1970.

Prasanna bid adieu to his illustrious career in October 1978 and gave a breather to many batting line-ups around the world. Many believed that no Indian off-spinner will ever be able to replicate Prasanna's heroics. However, India got the services of Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Brilliantly who brilliantly forwarded Prasanna's legacy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 22, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).