Indian cricket

Prasad advocates specialised coaches

June 3, 2007

Venkatesh Prasad: "I have the experience of playing at the highest level and to go with that I have worked with the junior players" © AFP

Venkatesh Prasad believes injuries "cannot be prevented" and a "transparent" rotation policy is the best way to guard against player burnout.

Prasad, who was the India's bowling coach on the recent tour to Bangladesh, said there could not be a water-tight theory when it came to injury management and keeping the player concerned well informed of the reasons behind selection decisions was key to the issue.

"It is debatable, I would say. I would not stick to one particular way," said Prasad, who will be conducting a fitness camp for bowlers in Mysore from June 4th.

"A lot depends on how one is feeling. If somebody is really important and it is not a highly competitive match, then he may be rested. "But there has to be transparency, proper communication. The player has to know why he is sitting out. He should be having the positive emotion to comeback and do well in the next match."

Prasad, who played in 33 Tests and claimed 96 wickets besides 196 scalps in 161 one-day internationals, said a specialised coach had become a basic requirement in modern cricket. "In a player's career, particularly a fast bowler's, you cannot prevent injuries. No matter how smooth an action you have and how fit you are, you go through injuries.

"To put it scientifically, when a fast bowler lands on his backfoot, the momentum created by the run-up and the jump before landing makes him bring down 10 times his body weight. Imagine doing that time and again. So we need to manage the bowlers correctly. We have to monitor the amount of physical fitness and the amount of bowling at the nets he does. It is the coach's job to keep the bowlers fresh. And this is where I think a specialised coach can be handy."

Prasad was all praise for the team's decision to play five bowlers in Bangladesh but said it was not a combination for all seasons. "It will depend on the nature of the pitch and the conditions. If needed, we will play six batsmen and a wicketkeeper. It will be horses for courses," he said.

"In Bangladesh, the wickets were very flat and the weather was extreme. It would have put a lot of strain and pressure on four bowlers. I think Ravi [Shastri] and Rahul [Dravid] did an excellent job."

Prasad said Indian seamers had the combination of pace and swing, which was a rare commodity, but they "have to work on their discipline". "Our bowlers' strength is that they have pace, when I say pace I don't mean express pace, and swing," he said.

"Other bowlers can swing at 128 kmph, but our bowlers do it at 135 or 136 kmph. But it is human nature to experiment. So they have to work on their discipline."

Prasad was of the opinion that good coach was one who went to the root cause of a player's problem. "Causes, not symptoms," he said cryptically. "Let me explain. Suppose a bowler's head is falling away at the time of delivery, you don't need a coach to tell you that. You can see that yourself. But you expect the coach to tell you why it is happening, the cause, and what should be done to rectify it.

"I am not having any thoughts like just because I have played for India I am qualified to be the fast bowling coach. But I have the experience of playing at the highest level and to go with that I have worked with the junior players."

© PTI

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Players/Umpires

Venkatesh Prasad

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India