Even as speculation abounds over T.A. Sekar accepting the job of the fast bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy, the former Indian paceman opened up in a conversation with The Hindu here on Wednesday.
“I am an employee of GMR Sports Private Ltd. which owns Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. As far as I am concerned, I see many coaches and other members of the support staff of various teams in the IPL who also have roles to play with the BCCI,” said Sekar.
“I see my situation as no different. There cannot be a conflict of interest in my case alone. Yet, if things don’t work out for me for some reason, I am willing to be a consultant in the visiting faculty of the NCA. It is for the BCCI to make that call.” The NCA, he said, had to be revamped. The lack of standardised coaching methodologies for fast bowlers was hurting the development of pacemen in the country, he said. “The holistic information is just not being collected and archived in a scientific manner,” said Sekar, who proffered that all data pertaining to a paceman had to be made available in one central repository.
Sekar said injury management and rehabilitation process for pacemen needed to be standardised and their workload managed in a far better manner. Even as he dwelt on NCA, Sekar recalled his days as head coach at the MRF Pace Foundation.
“Whatever I am today is because of the MRF Pace Foundation and Dennis Lillee,” he said.
The NCA, Sekar stressed, should be a centre for excellence for training, coaching and remodelling of actions and injury rehabilitation.
“Right now, the injury management and rehabilitation processes are sporadic and not regularised. And work-load management leaves a lot to be desired. The fast bowling coach has to work in tandem with the physio and the fitness trainer,” he said. “Fitness, injury, technical and match information are not collated together so that they can be correlated properly.”
Sekar spoke of the need for focussing on junior and upcoming talent and sharing of knowledge in the fast bowling community — something, he said, that was not happening now. “There should be a structured talent-identification programme at junior-level tournaments, assimilation of a team of experts and the creation of a BCCI Fast Bowlers’ Academy to unearth talent at all levels and ensure a steady supply of fast bowlers by concentrating on the main as well as the fringe pacemen,” he said.
Talking about injuries, he said: “Most coaches look at the delivery stride. But the delivery stride is only the effect. The cause, usually, lies in the few steps before the delivery stride.”
“Mixed actions are dangerous. Lateral flexion can be bad news. Many see the upper half of a bowler. But it is below the waist that problems crop up. The placement of your feet determines your body alignment.”
He said the absence of genuine swing bowlers saddened him. “Swing bowlers are tending to bowl quicker, with the result that they are losing their basic ability to move the ball. In trying to bowl faster, if your wrist position gets affected, then you will lose your swing. The point of release is vital. Your wrist and fingers have to be right behind the ball.”
Unless he was a quality swing bowler, a paceman below the speed of 135 kmph would struggle in international cricket, Sekar said.
