'We now have a good bunch of pacemen' - Prasad

Venkatesh Prasad, India's bowling coach, shares his thoughts on how his fast bowlers are shaping up ahead of the tour of New Zealand in an interview with S Dinakar in the Hindu.

On Ishant Sharma

“He reminds me of Srinath. He has the same body frame, high-arm action and bounce. The challenge before Ishant will be to be consistent with his off-stump line.”

On the importance of the slower ball

"If you take the pace off the ball, the batsmen have to really hit it and this is never easy. The batsmen lose a fraction of a second attempting to pick the ball and this affects their mind-set. But you need to disguise it with your field placings as well. If you have a long-on and a long-off, the batsman will expect a slower delivery and will stand behind the crease.”