Brisbane, Feb 17: Eric Simons, whose term as India’s bowling coach ends at the completion of India’s ongoing tour of Australia, spoke at length about his experience with the World Cup-winning side at a press conference here today. Simons discussed in detail India’s fast bowlers and the key role that Zaheer Khan plays as a mentor to the national side.

Excerpts:

On the overall experience as bowling coach

I don’t want it to sound like a cliché, but it has been an incredible experience for me. I hoped to come along and teach some cricketers some things, to have some input into a team, but I think one of the incredible things for me was the learning experience not only as a cricketer but as a person. That’s probably been the hallmark of the two years I have been with the team. To grow in my understanding of the game of cricket, and also as a person. It’s been a really tremendous experience. Hopefully I have left some mark on some of the cricketers. I hope they have learned something.

OnIshant Sharma and one-day cricket

Ishant Sharma, for his development as a cricketer, the best would be for him to focus on Test cricket. My style of coaching is that – we do some tactical work – but most of the coaches spend 90 percent of their time in technique and 10 percent in practice. I go the other way around. If you watch us practice, it’s always targets, there’s always some thoughts to the way they practice, and the technique takes care of itself. That’s what we have done with Ishant. It is a slower process at times, but when you get to that point, it starts a habit for the guys. I believe you have left a mark that lasts for long time, rather than just dealing with working on technical issues. The first Hindi words I learned were ‘achhi aadat’ and ‘buri aadat’. Good habits and bad habits. That’s what I have been imparting to the guys for a long time. I think at that stage that probably was the right decision.

Personally I believe Ishant is ready for one-day cricket. I think he is bowling exceptionally well. It is all about control and confidence. But I am not part of the selection process. I know there have been talks about – for example – Umesh Yadav playing earlier in the one-day series. Maybe being conservative with Ishant is the way the selectors want to go. I think he is ready, but that’s the decision of the selectors. I’ll live with that.

On Munaf Patel not playing in England

One time I was questioned was when RP Singh came back into the side and the point I did make was – one of the challenges we had at that stage as an attack was we didn’t have the 145 kmph-plus guy. We had to be innovative and clever in the way we put our attack together. The thinking was that if you lost someone like Zak [Zaheer Khan], you wanted someone a little bit different. That counted in someone like RP’s [RP Singh] favour. If you have everyone that does the same thing then the batsman never has to change his angle or think differently. It was a pity Munaf didn’t play because he played a major role in the success at the World Cup. It’s not always what he has done in terms of wickets, but what he allows the other players to do. Unfortunate he couldn’t play. We were just trying to have something different.

On Sreesanth

One of the great experiences of being involved with India is the skill of the players I have been involved with. I haven’t met someone with the skill of Sreesanth. He bowled a spell at the Australians in Bangalore, when the ball was reversing, and I said to him, ‘There are maybe one or two bowlers in the world that can do that’. He is capable. His skills are phenomenal. Unfortunately the way the batsmen are today, the way the game has evolved, you need a lot more than that. You need consistency. That’s something I have tried to impart. [...] There is no point in bowling three or four good balls in an over and then letting the batsmen off the hook. That’s the evolution of a bowler. You watch Ben Hilfenhaus. His plan was very simple [and] very successful too. Sometimes having a very simple game-plan that you can execute really well is better than having too many options. I think Sreesanth understood that. He knows the skill he has. He still has a role to play.

On Ishant not being able to pick as many wickets as he deserves

It’s a funny one. From one of the first series versus South Africa, in the Test we won in Kolkata, he bowled brilliantly but didn’t get the rewards he deserved. You could see the frustration he had. To me he is one of the unluckiest bowlers in the sense of how well he bowls, the amount of wicket-taking balls he bowls, he just doesn’t seem to pick up the wickets I believe – and everyone else believes – he deserves. We know that the Australians were pleased he wasn’t involved in the One-day series. He bowled so well, he was the one that troubled them. You can look at a similar type of bowler in the world today, Morne Morkel, who also bowls really well but doesn’t pick the amount of wickets we as cricket people expect him to. For him to hit the stumps he has to pitch it fuller; that means the batsman has more chance. He has to find the right mix of deliveries. […] I hope Indian cricket sticks with him. They have got an incredible cricketer in him.

On the length bowled by Ishant

I used those mats that we use for targets, and we found that the length in Australia was a good six to 18 inches fuller than what used to be his correct length. We did work to get that length right and to help him change it. It is not always that easy. […] It’s just like a batsman – he gets a hundred, and suddenly he starts to flow. I think that’s the issue with him. It’s not just a case of running up and bowling fuller for a bowler like him who is so tall and has a different trajectory. I think it’s just a matter of time; suddenly everything is going to click for him and the nicks will come.

On Peter Siddle bowling short of a length too

The chaps here are used to bowling in these conditions. They will use the same [style] in India and will struggle because of the length. It is about understanding the conditions. We have seen Sri Lanka grow as they have started understanding the conditions. There’s a learning curve for a young bowler.

On Umesh Yadav

Great excitement. I started working with him two years ago at Delhi Daredevils. He had been given drills to do two years ago, and he has kept doing them. Suddenly he is now bowling this beautiful away swinger at 145-plus. He is an incredible athlete and he has got incredible stamina and strength. I think he is one of those bowlers, who, when bowls 145, the batsmen feel it is 150 because he is so relaxed into the wicket, he has got such a rhythmic action. I just think as he grows and understands his craft better – and he is tactical – he is going to get better and better. From my side he is one of the most exciting bowlers in the world today, not just India.

On young Indian fast bowlers losing speed and facing other issues

Each one is going to have different stories about what happened and what didn’t happen. Certainly in terms of what he can achieve, sometimes it is about making him understand how good he is. Sometimes cricketers don’t know their capabilities. Our job as coaches sometimes is to make sure they don’t become satisfied too early. That they understand they can achieve something special, and that’s what it is all about. Hopefully they can keep working.

On Vinay Kumar and Irfan Pathan

Vinay Kumar is one of the hardest working cricketers I have worked with. [...] He has got a lot of skill and he has got a great work ethic and he has embraced that really tremendously in the sense of going out and doing the work he does. He is always doing his drills. You always see him working. He wants to grow as a cricketer. He wants to improve his batting, he wants to improve his fielding. He is just getting the rewards for his hard work. Irfan Pathan – world cricket needs players like Irfan. He is exciting, he hits the ball, he can swing when on song. Exciting to see him back, excited about his game. At the end of the day it comes down to the player embracing what he has to do and make sure he is always ahead of his game. In the modern game, one has to keep adding new dimensions to his game, because people analyse it all the time.

On changing the work ethic of a bowler like Sreesanth

He has got a good work ethic and I think sometimes, particularly when you come here, bowlers need to learn that they can be more patient. In India you have to be more innovative; you have to be bowling variations because there is not that much in the wicket for them. You are only going to be bowling 10 or 15 overs in a day and spinners can do the rest of the work but here it’s about just being patient and sticking to the game-plan and I think that’s one of the lessons we need to learn overseas. It’s about playing on the batsman’s ego.

On Zaheer Khan

One of the things is how fit he is looking at the moment, his energy and how excited he is about his cricket again. It’s very encouraging and he is a player with great skill and I think he has a big role to play in mentoring the cricketers and bowlers around him. He has a very good understanding of his craft and he has the ability to teach that. He is working hard physically to make sure he is available as much as he possibly can be and I think that’s where the key lies; he stays motivated and he puts in that effort. Mentally he is still very keen on playing and very excited about it.

On reviewing the current tour

We all look at it as a disappointment. We did come here with great hopes of learning from England [and] what had happened there. So from that perspective we all were disappointed with the way we performed because we were capable of better. We do look back on the series and there were key moments where small things happened and turned [the game around].

On his future plans

I’ve been appointed as the head coach of the Delhi Daredevils, so that’ll be my next assignment in the cricketing world. I’ve got business in Cape Town and that’s where I go back to post the IPL. A few people have spoken to me, but I haven’t made a decision yet.

On his biggest achievements and disappointments during his coaching stint with India

It’s sometimes difficult to measure when you watch from the outside, but when I see the growth of some of the cricketers [it’s rewarding]. Sometimes when you are at nets, you just know that the guy with you is not ready. You might not see it as a journalist sitting on the side but you see it in his eyes, you see it in his confidence, etc. People like Vinay Kumar, PK [Praveen Kumar] - he was obviously a more established cricketer, but I feel he grew as well - Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav — I am very excited about him. It’s more about the individuals growing as cricketers and as people. I think from that perspective I’ll walk away feeling that I’ve made some contribution and [I] take some pleasure and enjoyment out of that. The World Cup — there is nothing that can mean more to any cricketer.

I think Ishant [Sharma] has moved forward — absolutely no doubt in my mind. I would love for him to have taken four five-wicket hauls in England. In Australia, too, seeing those improvements not manifest themselves in the numbers is frustrating. But sometimes we have to be careful to judge and not get too carried away with the outcome. At the end of the day, you are a coach of a team but you are dealing with individuals. I would have loved them to have more rewards than they’ve had in their career.

On his experience with Indian spinners

[Ravichandran] Ashwin has been bowling really well. He has grown a lot as a bowler. [Pragyan] Ojha has grown as a bowler. We’ve talked a lot about the seam bowlers, but he has grown leaps and bounds as a cricketer and as a bowler. It was a pity that he wasn’t able to play a bigger role in our team make-up. We weren’t able to pick two spinners. We wanted to play three seamers in these conditions.