Wright's attempt to infuse team spirit is commendable

Even as the Indian tour of Zimbabwe is just getting underway, I thought I would focus this time on my impressions from the preparatory camp in Bangalore. It was a good opportunity to interact with the probables, and especially the spin bowlers amongst them. I have always insisted on the importance of length and advised the boys that their line is optional and can be varied depending on the nature of the wicket but at all times they should maintain a good length.

I told Sairaj Bahutule that although a couple of chances went abegging off him in the Madras Test against Australia, the overall impression was not good because he frequently erred in length. If he had been more disciplined, he would have got more than the two wickets he collected. I told him to concentrate on that and also to bowl more side-on rather than with an open-chested action. I did not get to interact much with Harbhajan but Sarandeep came up to me and I spent a lot of time with him.

A very keen lad, I watched him bowl to Sachin and he was maintaining a decent line and length to the master batsman. He did induce Tendulkar to play a couple of unintentional shots that went uppishly and I told Sarandeep that even the best players can be lulled into a mistake. A good batsman does his best to disturb the bowler's rhythm; he goes on the backfoot and makes it appear that the bowler is pitching too short, then when the ball is overpitched, it is driven. I told him not to get concerned by these things because, after all, Sachin is an intelligent player. Even John Wright, who invited me to conduct one net session for the probables, was impressed.

Wright was in Bangalore even before the probables had arrived and watched the NCA boys at the nets. He had seen some of them before the Australian series without being overly enthused by the talent at hand. Wright believed at the time that there were few spinners around who could push the senior boys for a place and may have been apprehensive that his job as a coach would be a path of hard and steep struggle. But after watching them now he did remark that we had done wonders in a short span of time.

I did not get to observe Wright's coaching techniques up close but I could see the importance he attached to mental toughness, sports psychology, physical toughness and endurance. I'm sure this is a legacy from the stint he served with Kent in the English county championship. Wright is also trying to infuse a sense of team spirit which is commendable. There was a time when the Indian players would separate themselves naturally into regional clusters but the boys these days have realised the importance of playing international cricket and are keen to do all it takes to win at the highest level.

Rahul Dravid was practising at the KSCA nets well in advance of the team's arrival and he also agreed that the spinners at the NCA are bowling well. We have three genuine spinners here in Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan who is a left armer, Amit Mishra, the leg spinner and M Dharmichand, the off spinner. The rest are basically batsmen who are trying to become all rounders but at the international level, their bowling limitations will be exposed.

Vidyut and Dharmichand especially have a great chance to play for India provided they are nurtured carefully. We Indians have a great knack of typecasting players and Vidyut has been called 'lethargic' in the field but he is an intelligent bowler with an excellent cricketing brain. All he needs is a bit of luck and faith. Dharmichand is a big turner of the ball, an excellent field and more than a handy bat. I think we've got to give these boys trust and support and they will come through in due course.

We at the NCA had also invited Sourav and Sachin to talk to the boys and share their experiences. Sachin stressed on various aspects of batting with a special accent on the pre-match buildup of a batsman while Sourav focused on the sharing of ideas amongst the team members and helping a fellow cricketer when he is struggling. All in all, it was a remarkable education for these impressionable youngsters.