Jamaica, June 16: India’s bowling coach Eric Simmons is delighted with his wards’ success in recent times. Speaking to the media in the West Indies, Simmons spoke about the journey with the Indian team he describes as ‘tremendous and enjoyable’.

Excerpts from the interaction:

On the journey so far

It has been tremendous and [an] enjoyable time for me. Hopefully I have taught the bowling group something. I have certainly learnt myself as a bowling coach. It’s been tremendous […] to bowl with such an intelligent bunch of cricketers. The team’s done extremely well; they have done well as a unit. And it has been good to see some of the bowlers going into new areas of the game.

On whether high expectations and media attention around the team made him jittery at the outset

I wouldn’t say jittery. Coaching is one of those games [in which] you’ve got to believe in yourself like a player does. I saw it as a very exciting challenge. I thought that they are a very talented bunch of cricketers and they certainly proved me right in that respect and probably even more so than when I arrived. I don’t know about the great expectations but then that is what makes coaching exciting.

On Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar who have been sharing the new ball between them

I think it has been one of the great hallmarks of this particular series and one of the reasons why we have won the way we have. Particularly Munaf, in the last match, has been incredible if you look at the areas in which he has bowled, the consistency with which he has bowled. Praveen, in this series particular - I think he has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of strategy; the way he has put his game plans together has been tremendous to see. Our strategy has always been about a game plan that suits our bowlers rather than being something we aren’t. Those two in particular have excelled at this.

On the similarities and differences between Gary Kirsten’s and Duncan Fletcher’s approaches to coaching

I think they are very similar in the sense that for them it is always about the players, not success of the players. Obviously, as coaches we like to get some sort of sense of enjoyment out of the players’ or team’s success and that is why we do it. But it’s not about us, it’s about the players; Gary and Duncan are very much like that. There are differences in the way they go about things, the way they coach, the amount of information that they put in and those kinds of things. But the core and the key about it is that it is about the players and creating an environment for them to be successful and that’s why it has been a smooth transition.

On the notion that Indian bowlers tend to lose pace once they are in the international arena

It’s difficult to say. I think that probably they are the most skillful bowlers in the world. I don’t know how many have lost pace that much. If you look at the [teams] around the world, there is no doubt that Team India plays a lot more cricket than anybody else. That certainly has a bearing on how fast to bowl and how long. A lot is about being able to take a step back and rely on your skills and be successful. I am pretty sure that it does happen all around the world; maybe we just focus more on India as Team India is our focus.