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The Daredevils assistant coach from South African stresses that bowlers need to innovate in order to survive in T20 cricket.
How do you look at this new responsibility?
• I have just arrived here and headed straight into a practice game but what I have in front of me is a talented bunch of players. The basic idea for an IPL team is to bring boys from different countries together and gel them into a team. You’ve to keep them happy and forge a strong bond.
The T20 format is hard on bowlers, especially in sub-continental conditions. How does a bowler approach the game?
• Bowling in T20 is hard work. You need to be a brave. Bowlers often come across tough situations, and it’s important to have a game plan. For example, if your game plan is to hit the top of the stump or say fire in five yorkers but the batsman still manages to hit you, you can’t do much about it. In Twenty20 it’s important to follow the process and not read too much into the result.
Can a bowler have a game plan for batsmen like Virender Sehwag, T Dilshan or David Warner?
• In international cricket you have a lot of video footage available now. As a bowler you study what the strengths of such attacking batsmen are. One principle is to block their big shots and frustrate them.
T20 is cruel to bowlers, but isn’t it more cruel on the bowling coach because he’s even more under scrutiny?
• (Laughs) I think it’s relative. As a coach you have to tell the bowlers to think one step ahead of the batsman.
What is the survival mantra for bowlers in modern-day cricket where 300 and 350 have become par scores?
• The batsman has become innovative, so the bowler must also become innovative. He needs to have 5-6 different types of deliveries in his kitty: keep the bouncer, the yorker, 2-3 varieties of slower ones. You need to pick the deliveries that come naturally to you and really master them with great discipline at the practice sessions. If you are able to get them right, you straightaway bring the score of 350 down to 300.
Generally a coach asks the bowlers to stick to the line and length, and not concentrate on pace. What is your take on it?
• I think if the wicket has a bit of pace, then it’s important to bowl quick. You can see that Dirk Nannes has upset a lot of batsmen with his pace in international cricket. Pace is still a big weapon but it needs to be real pace. You can’t be bowling around 130 kmph and still think about getting away.
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