“Shorts boundaries, flat tracks, big bats. There is no place in the field to hide,” said Andy Bichel, summing up the odds the bowlers are up against in Twenty20 cricket; particularly in the sub-continent.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling coach, getting his bowlers ready for the upcoming Champions League, shared his views with presspersons outside MAC ‘B’ here on Friday.
He was happy with the progress made by Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey. “Mohit bowls his slower ball with a lot of control. Ishwar can move the ball around.” The 44-year-old Aussie added senior paceman Ashish Nehra still had something to offer to the side.
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Dwelling on some of the present day bowlers struggling to bowl yorkers, Bichel said this was an area where all coaches guiding a bowler had to coordinate. “The pacemen play a lot of cricket, the Test matches, the ODIs and the three or the four-day matches. I am with them here only for Twenty20 cricket. Yet, they do get it right on occasions.”
Bichel said the contribution of spinners R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would be significant for CSK. “Both are experienced international bowlers. Ashwin bowls upfront for us but it is in the middle overs that he has done maximum damage for the side.”
The CSK bowling coach was also impressed with leg-spinner Samuel Badree’s form in the Caribbean Premier League. “He has picked wickets and bowled economically. The challenge before him is to find a place in the CSK XI on a regular basis.”
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Bichel indicated pace-bowling all-rounder Dwayne Bravo would be operating in the end overs. “When he got injured early in the last IPL, we did not realise how much we would miss him. He really brings a lot with him to the team.”