South African Eric Simons, the bowling coach of RPS, did admit that the team have not defended well in this tournament.
One of the main reasons for Rising Pune Supergiants to languish at the bottom half of the table has been their struggling bowling unit. So much so that seven of their nine losses have been because of their bowlers’ inability to defend totals.
South African Eric Simons, the bowling coach of RPS, did admit that the team have not defended well in this tournament. Speaking to the media at the team hotel on Friday, the eve of RPS’ last game of IPL 2016 against Kings XI Punjab here, Simons said about his bowling unit that has not been up to the mark: “I think we must not be caught up in just the outcome of the delivery. We set certain plans in place. There has been some exceptional batting in this tournament and sometimes you bowl the ball in the area you want to and the outcome is not as good as you wanted it to be.
“We have not defended well, to think of a person like Virat Kohli, when he plays 20 overs, he scores more runs that most people will. It has often been the story of some exceptional batting. We should have won one or two games where we should have defended. But, overall, it has been a growth curve and that is one positive to come from it, particularly the last game (against Delhi Daredevils here), very very pleased with the way wickets fell.”
Simons, the 54-year-old former South Africa ODI medium-pacer, said that India’s Ashok Dinda and Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa have been impressive for RPS.
“There has been good growth on some of the cricketers,” he said looking at the positives from this IPL. “We know what Adam Zampa can do in these conditions, we have seen Dinda, who has had a great tournament, certainly his best IPL. So, a lot of individuals have improved and we as a unit know ourselves a lot better now.”
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Asked what Dinda, who has taken 10 wickets from eight matches did right this season, Simons explained: “Dinda is a very confident individual. I think the first stage with the few of the guys when they start is the No Ball. When you take away the worry about No Ball, they become better bowlers. We have worked hard on that perspective. One of them, ironically, was Rajat Bhatia and we got that sorted out. Then he can focus on the bowling.
“With Dinda, it has been a lot about strategy. In the past, he has tried to do too many things. In the last game, you can see how consistent he was in terms of strategy. Bowling to Quinton de Kock and sticking to what we call Plan A. Sometimes what happens, when you bowl Plan A, and you are hit for a boundary, you suddenly go to Plan C or Plan D as opposed to recognising that it was just a bad ball and get back to Plan A. He is generally working in the front and back end, it’s a lot about consistency of strategy and reading the game from that, when does he need to change. The same applies for back end, not to be too clever. We can only have a plan executed and the outcome will take care of itself. That has been part of what he has done very well. He stuck to his plan a lot longer than in the past when he used to chop and change a lot quicker.”
Supergiants’ most successful bowler has been the 24-year-old Zampa with 11 wickets including a career best 6/19 here against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Asked if Zampa could have been played earlier in the season, Simons said: “I suppose in hindsight, it is easy to say that. He has been exceptional, particularly with his wicket-taking abilities. He is taking wickets in the middle overs, takes the sting out of the back end of the innings and that is important. But it is always about getting the (team) balance right, and there have been some great cricketers sitting on the bench for a while. You have to get not only the balance of what your team wants but also the international players. In hindsight, he has made a name for himself in the three games that he has played but that is the way the tournament unfolds.”
Simons was impressed with Rajat Bhatia’s abilities with the ball and that he bowled better than Irfan Pathan. “Irfan started the tournament slowly by his own admission. Sometimes, you need to step up from domestic to the intensity of IPL T20 cricket and he improved as he got playing in the tournament and started playing more and more in the nets with some of the guys around him.
“From my communication with him, he was more competing with Rajat Bhatia and it was more about how well Rajat was playing than the fact that Irfan wasn’t. It was more a reflection of how well Rajat was playing than the other way around. He has been really good at the nets, he bowled well the other night (against DD). We know what he can do with the bat as well. He gives you great balance but we needed to get the team balance and the position that he was competing for was with Rajat, who has had a good tournament.”
Simons will hope that his bowlers come good one final time on Saturday afternoon and take that confidence into the next year’s IPL.
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