Don't want to burden Yuvraj Singh with captaincy: Allan Donald
I
just felt I want Yuvi to win games first. I don't want to him to be
burdened with the captaincy issue," said Allan Donald.
The Pune Warriors India's newly-appointed coach, Allan Donald
talks about his team and the season ahead. He also looks forward to
India's forthcoming tour of SA and, of course, his wish is to see Sachin Tendulkar in action, one last time. Excerpts from the interview:
How are you prepared for the new responsibility?
It is a new role and in a way it is quite intimidating. There is no running away from it, because this is something that I haven't done before. I actually started in 2005 and then there were some specific bowling coach's role I played, but I always said that someday I wanted to do team coaching. The responsibility doesn't come any bigger than being in-charge of an IPL team. When I got the call three months ago, I was like 'wow, this responsibility is fairly big'.
Did you get enough time on hand to get your team ready?
In IPL, the turnaround is so quick and some of the overseas guys are still arriving. One thing you do know is that they haven't stopped playing cricket, these guys have just finished either with their international or domestic duty. No one is really under-cooked. The good thing about this team is the depth we have. It is going to be a serious selection headache for us. Finding the right four overseas players and mixing them with the best Indian players is going to be tough.
How big is the impact of Michael Clarke's unavailability?
It is really big. I spoke to him the other day and he was upset about it. He was hoping to go home just to have an injection and to come back, but with the Ashes series coming up, it would have been the silliest thing in the world had Cricket Australia released him. With the Australian cricket being under so much pressure, he is their best player and they did the right thing by not letting him go.
IPL is all about setting trends. The most successful has been opening the bowling with spinners. Your take.
I think there are all sorts of strategies that go in IPL. I have seen them so many times not just in IPL, but all across the world in the T20s. I think the reason they open with spinners is to strategise their powerplays and limit the damage quickly. It is seen more in Indian conditions than in other parts of the world. Here, you have to respect the powerplays very much, especially when the ball is turning. And that is the reason Chennai Super Kings are so successful, as they don't take unnecessary risks in the powerplays.
Three skippers in two seasons say a lot about the inconsistency Pune has faced in the past.
I once asked myself, should Yuvraj be the man. But I just felt I want Yuvi to win games first. I don't want to him to be burdened with the captaincy issue. He can win matches on his own, it is for him to relax and enjoy his cricket. Angelo is the right man right now and he is available for the whole season. And if everything goes well, when we train for the next three years, following this, we could then appoint someone and say, 'now you captain for the next two years' and we can grow on our consistency.
Tamim Iqbal didn't play a single match last year. Will it be different for him this year?
He was a young player last year, always learning, always asking questions. Tamim is a quality cricketer and so are the nine other overseas players.
How are you prepared for the new responsibility?
It is a new role and in a way it is quite intimidating. There is no running away from it, because this is something that I haven't done before. I actually started in 2005 and then there were some specific bowling coach's role I played, but I always said that someday I wanted to do team coaching. The responsibility doesn't come any bigger than being in-charge of an IPL team. When I got the call three months ago, I was like 'wow, this responsibility is fairly big'.
Did you get enough time on hand to get your team ready?
In IPL, the turnaround is so quick and some of the overseas guys are still arriving. One thing you do know is that they haven't stopped playing cricket, these guys have just finished either with their international or domestic duty. No one is really under-cooked. The good thing about this team is the depth we have. It is going to be a serious selection headache for us. Finding the right four overseas players and mixing them with the best Indian players is going to be tough.
How big is the impact of Michael Clarke's unavailability?
It is really big. I spoke to him the other day and he was upset about it. He was hoping to go home just to have an injection and to come back, but with the Ashes series coming up, it would have been the silliest thing in the world had Cricket Australia released him. With the Australian cricket being under so much pressure, he is their best player and they did the right thing by not letting him go.
IPL is all about setting trends. The most successful has been opening the bowling with spinners. Your take.
I think there are all sorts of strategies that go in IPL. I have seen them so many times not just in IPL, but all across the world in the T20s. I think the reason they open with spinners is to strategise their powerplays and limit the damage quickly. It is seen more in Indian conditions than in other parts of the world. Here, you have to respect the powerplays very much, especially when the ball is turning. And that is the reason Chennai Super Kings are so successful, as they don't take unnecessary risks in the powerplays.
Three skippers in two seasons say a lot about the inconsistency Pune has faced in the past.
I once asked myself, should Yuvraj be the man. But I just felt I want Yuvi to win games first. I don't want to him to be burdened with the captaincy issue. He can win matches on his own, it is for him to relax and enjoy his cricket. Angelo is the right man right now and he is available for the whole season. And if everything goes well, when we train for the next three years, following this, we could then appoint someone and say, 'now you captain for the next two years' and we can grow on our consistency.
Tamim Iqbal didn't play a single match last year. Will it be different for him this year?
He was a young player last year, always learning, always asking questions. Tamim is a quality cricketer and so are the nine other overseas players.
.
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