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India’s bowling coach calls for patience

The former South Africa coach was appointed to the post this month on a short-term basis for the ongoing test series in Bangladesh and next month’s test and one-day series against visiting South Africa.

“I don’t think I can make a major impact in two series. But when I leave, if the bowlers say he has shown me a way to become a better cricketer then I would consider my job done,” he told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.

“I am here for only six weeks so I would like to try and understand them,” added the 47-year-old former South Africa pace bowler.

“It would be arrogant to try and tell Indian bowlers how to bowl on sub-continent wickets,” he said.

“I would want to bring in my information and combine what they do and how they do it and find a joint solution. A lot of things can be solved with practice, good strategies and good plans. That’s the basis on which I would start.”

The BCCI sacked Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as bowling and fielding coaches in October after the country’s early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in England and the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

India climbed to the top of the test rankings for the first time in December but the team has struggled to establish supremacy in ODI cricket.

This prompted India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to say the side would benefit from having a specialist bowling coach.

Former South African batsman Gary Kirsten is India’s chief coach. The Indian board has also recruited former Australian Mike Young as fielding consultant.