Mental clarity vital for bowlers - Donald

Bowlers are faced with steep tasks in this age of Twenty20 cricket. Thick edges fly to the boundary, impropable shots are perfected with each passing day and the challenge of bowling in the final five overs of a limited-overs match has become a high-wire act. Allan Donald, bowling coach with South Africa and Royal Challengers Bangalore, spoke to G Unnikrishnan of Deccan Herald about how to plan for the three stages of a one-day game and the skills necessary to succeed against reputed finishers.

When AB sits in the team meetings, and talks, without giving away his secrets, it's amazing to know how he wants to hit the ball. He wants the bowlers to bowl at him in his areas. Maxwell too is in the same category, but AB collects runs initially before hitting around in the end. When you plan against guys like AB and Maxwell, especially AB because AB goes both sides of the wicket - he laps this way and laps that way. You gotta try and stick to one field, and minimum strategies. What I am saying is, for these kind of players you shouldn't overplan, but try to keep it as simple as possible because bowlers shouldn't have five complex plans but two simple plans to execute. Why are bowlers not trying yorkers these days?