Former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, known for his silky action and beautiful loop, tells Amit Chaudhary that BCCI needs to invest in spinners to stop the rapid decline in the quality. Excerpts
You have become a full-time coach now. Are you liking the jobIJ
Yes, I am enjoying it. It’s a long way ahead. It’s a different chapter altogether in my career. Still in the early stages of my coaching career and i am ejoying it. Every team is different, every individual is different and it gives me an opportunity to handle them.
What is the biggest challenge of being a coachIJ
I think the biggest challenge for any coach is how to get the best out of a player. I mean, being a player I can understand that all the coach I have worked under must have had the similar feeling. At times you feel you can go out and do it but you can’t do that. So you expect them do it. At times they lack vision, the lack knowledge. One thing the player who can excel, who thinks about cricket and is cricket smart — you need to have these qualities so that the player will also be benefited with the better coaches.
What do you think is the reason behind the lack of quality spinners in IndiaIJ
Spinners, according to me, are wicket-takers, whatever format they play. Today because of IPl, the spinners have forgotten the guile. To be more precise, they are happy to give a single or bowling a dot ball. They aren’t ready to take up the challenge that I can get the batsman out. Majority of spinners are looking to bowl not to get hit. They are not ready to go for a wicket and take the challenge.
You mean the twenty20 cricket is to be blamed for the poor health of spin bowlingIJ
No. You can’t blame it. It’s about how a spinner accepts the format. Whatever format you play, you need to bowl a good ball. A good ball is a good ball in twenty20, one-dayers and Test match as well. So you need to bowl good balls to get wickets; format does not matter. It’s the skills that matter.
Then why are spinners not following the right pathIJ
They are taking the easy way. See, spin is something where a bowler has to do a lot of bowling to master it. The bowler should be ready to do the hard work to learn the art of spin bowling.
Are you suggesting that today’s bowlers are not hard workingIJ
I am not saying that they aren’t hard working. They need to do a lot of bowling in the nets. In present scenario, I don’t see that.
And what do you think is the reasonIJ
Because they are into three formats. Format is the only way of not giving the reason. In the end you need to go out and bowl. It depends on how much an athlete is ready to work hard, what’s his ambitions are and what he wants to do. By being a good spinner, does he have a dream to play higher or he wants to finish in first-class cricket.
What are the consequences of this trend you see in the futureIJ
More than thinking about the consequences, I think we need to ensure that the young spinners are guided well. They should be taken care of very well. Whenever we go out, our spinners find it difficult to bowl on the tracks which don’t suit us. like in India we know that there will be assistance for spinners and we will get away with that. At the same time we need to know what skill it takes to be successful in unfriendly conditions. A spinner can’t rely only on turn. If I talk about myself, I relied on bounce. On a wicket which had bounce, I always made it difficult for the batsmen. That’s because I knew I had a guile in me. So, I used to use the bounce. Whenever I played in Australia and South Africa as well, I never depended on spin. I always relied on the bounce. So, a spinner should try and focus on how to bowl on the wickets outside the sub-continent.
BCCI has also asked all the associations to provide pitches that are helpful for seam bowlers. Isn’t it contributing to the decline of the art of spin bowlingIJ
It hasn’t happened. BCCI is definitely debating on the green pitches but it hasn’t happened. I haven’t a green top so far in the Ranji Trophy.
But BCCI needs to do something to restore the environment for spin bowling.
I think the way BCCI has gone ahead to have an MOU signed with MRF for the fast bowlers, they should also try and focus on having a similar MOU with some academy or they can have their own set-up where the spinners can be mentored. They should have the coaches in the academy who can give time and be with them (young spinners), not the big names. It matters how the person spends time to them. You need to be with the players all the time. That’s how you win their (players’) confidence.
You need to assess and assist spinners in bowling on different wickets. Majority of the times you don’t need to tell the bowler how to bowl on a turning track. We (coaches) need to assess, assist and share the knowledge about how to bowl on a green top or a flat wicket. I have also bowled on green tops and flat batting wickets and I have taken wickets there. So that knowledge a coach should share with the young and upcoming spinners of our country. That’s how we make a difference.
The best spinner we have right now is Ravichandran Ashwin. You think he is well equipped to succeed on foreign soil with all those action changesIJ
I think it depends on various things. As a spinner he, or any spinner for that matter, needs to focus on the surface, the conditions, the size of the ground, the breeze etc. but, having said that, it is the guile that a bowler has to have. All other things are just tools which you need to adjust with but ultimately it is your skill (that gets you wickets). You need to deceive a batsman in the flight. That is for sure.
You are giving a lot of importance to guile.
Obviously but to have guile in your bowling, you need to work hard. It takes time. It won’t come overnight.
But, do we have captains who will let the spinner flight and risk giving runsIJ
We can not blame the captain all the time. Ultimately the spinner has to focus. The responsibility lies with the spinner. He has to show a lot of maturity. Show the captain the confidence and tell him “look I may go for some runs but I’ll get you wickets.”
What are your views about having three spinners in the World Cup squadIJ Is it right to have three spinners in Australian conditionsIJ
look, our concern is death bowling. And having five fielders in the circle is always tough on bowlers. Definitely I am on the bowlers’ side for that. At the same time, a few things can be looked at. Having three spinners or five bowlers in the team — Axar can bat, Jadeja can bat, Ashwin can also bat and two fast bowlers — so you have options. It depends on which team you are playing. The teams like Australia and South Africa, their bread and butter is fast bowling. So why should we play a third or fourth seamer against them. They are going to play our fast bowlers very well. These are few tactical things that I am sure our captain MS Dhoni would look into it. And grounds in Australia are fairly bigger than what we see in India.
Definitely it is going to be a challenge for spinners to bowl in those conditions but the length is the key Down Under. The length we bowl in sub-continent is totaly different from what we should bowl in Australia.