'Mental strength makes the difference'
Venkatesh Prasad looks at the gains the rookie bowling attack under his charge has made on the tough tour of Australia
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This was one of the challenging tours. Yes, we all knew that it was going to be tough, but we never doubted our ability or thought we couldn't win the series. I knew we had the talent, I knew we could handle any situation and that we could do the job.
The dos were being positive in body language, in our approach; to execute and stick to plans. To execute plans we had to back ourselves. Also, what was very important was being able to adapt to the given situation and conditions on the ground. Those were the key areas we were always working on.
It varies from person to person. If things are going well for a bowler, I don't think I should be spending too much time with him - too much analysis leads to paralysis. If the bowler is technically pretty much okay, I don't change that. Instead I focus on the tactical aspect and try and get an idea about what he is thinking about his bowling. Only if somebody is not getting his length or line because of a technical fault do I spend a lot of time in the nets and off the field to understand and make him understand where the fault lies.
You need to understand the bowler. One-on-ones help a lot. The advantage for me is that having played at the highest level and been part of the system helps me understand the boys much better than anybody else, which makes things easier. I know the mindset of an Indian bowler who is normally used to bowling on flat tracks in India. So, suddenly when they get seaming, swinging and bouncy tracks, that's where my experience comes in.
The strength of our bowlers is that each one has a fantastic seam position and wrist position at the time of delivery, and that helps them move the ball considerably, which I haven't seen in many bowlers from other countries | |||
I never thought it was going to be a big challenge because we had the talent. When Zaheer and RP were around, I was spending a lot of time with the other guys in the nets. If anything was lacking, it was the experience. During the Tests, having Anil [Kumble] working with me, and us sharing our experience and knowledge with the bowlers and giving them the confidence and trust helped a lot.
It's about the basics. Consistency is important, and so are variations. When you are playing at this level, everybody has got about an equal amount of talent - it's just that whoever is strong mentally is going to perform consistently. The biggest challenge for me is to understand the bowler - how he is thinking, how he is approaching the game, how he is planning his bowling - and then get it in sync with the team goals and work accordingly.
The strength of our bowlers is that each one has a fantastic seam position and wrist position at the time of delivery, and that helps them move the ball considerably, which I haven't seen in many bowlers from other countries. That makes our bowling attack that much more lethal. Our boys also bowl 135 and above and at times 140-plus too.
It's not a challenge for me alone. The bowlers need to take care of themselves. They need to be aware of themselves - their workload, how they are going to keep their fitness at the optimum. The individual needs to follow a certain programme in terms of physical conditioning, bowling in the nets, bowling in matches. I've seen bowlers going back to their states and bowling 25 to 30 overs a day. That's killing. Now whose responsibility is it? It's the responsibility of the state coach. So it's a collective responsibility.
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Injury management, of course. Fast bowling is the toughest job in cricket and there will be niggles and injuries, but you need to be aware of the niggles so they don't get serious. The bowler needs to have constant contact with the physio and the coach and be open about it. They need to help the support staff help them. At the same time the bowler has to keep increasing his threshold of pain, because you can't go to the physio's table every time.
I've had chats with Dhoni on the bowling changes and his strategies.
We now have a fantastic group of fast bowlers who showed a lot of aggression and character, and they shouldered the responsibility whenever there was a setback. RP took the responsibility of leading the attack when Zaheer went back; when we missed RP, Ishant and Irfan took the responsibility of leading. And you saw Praveen and Sreesanth doing that when Ishant didn't play the second final. So I've got bowlers who are willing to take up their responsibilities, willing to accept the challenges and play according to the team's needs.
Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo