CSK bowling coach Andy Bichel believes Mohit Sharma has made rapid strides over the last few months.
“He is bowling around four kmph quicker, and he is bowling the right length. Mohit’s short-pitched ball has become an important delivery in his repertoire. It is sharp and well directed. It has become the impact delivery for him,” said Bichel at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Monday.
The former Australian paceman added: “Mohit has also become stronger. And he has a very effective back-of-the-hand slower ball.”
On why Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin has been employed so sparingly, Bichel said: “It has nothing to do with his fitness. Three of Delhi Daredevils’ frontline batsmen were left-handers, and it is not a good idea for a left-arm spinner to bowl at left-handers. Against Sunrisers, the pacemen (Ashish) Nehra, Mohit, Ishwar Pandey and Dwayne Bravo did a good job, and there was not much for Jadeja to do with the ball.”
Asked about Irfan Pathan’s fitness — the pace bowling all-rounder went through some drills during CSK’s optional training session — Bichel said: “It is nothing serious. He has a minor hamstring strain. He should be all right soon.”
Bichel said bowling in Twenty20 games was a lot about reading the situations well. “A lot of it is in the mind. You should be able to handle pressure,” he said.
The Aussie conceded it was hard for pacemen to bowl in Twenty20 cricket since the batsmen can play so many shots these days. “Take Maxwell, for instance. It can sometimes be hard bowling at him. If you bowl a yorker outside the off-stump to a right-hander and he reverse sweeps it to the fence, there is little you can do as a bowler,” he said.
Bichel took note of sterling performances by leg-spinners in this IPL. “Bowlers like Imran Tahir have been doing very well. Just shows that leg-spinners have a role in this form of the game too,” he said.
