Published: Mar 12, 2018, 03:46 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 12, 2018, 03:48 PM (IST)
Ashish Nehra retired from international cricket on November 1, 2017. He soon made his debut in commentary box, and is set to coach Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 IPL. According to a report published in The Times of India, Nehra in an event admitted he doesn’t want to change anyone’s game but change frame of mind while coaching.
“It is a new beginning for me. Everybody knows that how big a franchisee RCB has been. They have reached final three times, but couldn’t cross the last hurdle so hoping for a good season,” Nehra said. “I can’t and don’t want to change anybody’s game in the two-three months. I just want to change their frame of mind if there is a need for it. All my bowlers know how to bowl, but my job would be to tell them what to bowl when.”
Nehra talked about how batsman get more credit than bowlers in the shortest format of the game. However, he firmly believes bowler play equal role in the format: “As a batter even if you don’t score for five-six innings, and then you score a 120-ball 40 or a 130-ball 50, it is more highlighted. But it is other way round for a bowler. You might pick three wickets in four overs giving away 25 runs, it may go unnoticed. But if you give 60 runs in four overs, it will get highlighted. But in terms of cricketing contribution, I feel bowlers have an equal role to play, especially at a venue like Bangalore or Mumbai, where everybody knows wicket is going to be a belter. Be it Tests, ODIs or T20s, bowlers have to do well to win the match. You can’t win a Test match by scoring a 1,000 runs. You will have to take 20 wickets to win it.”
RCB play their first match of IPL 2018 on April 8 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
