Lack of bowling coach hurting India, says Dhoni

CRICKET: MUMBAI, India, Jan 2 - India would benefit from having a specialist bowling coach, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Friday. The Indian cricket board sacked Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh as bowling and fielding coaches in October after the country’s early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in England and the Champions Trophy in South Africa. India climbed to the top of the Test rankings for the first time in December but the team has struggled to establish supremacy in one-day international cricket.

“To some extent it does hurt not having a bowling coach. If you have a specialist coach he is always interacting with the bowlers and trying to get the best out of them,” Dhoni told a news conference on the eve of the team’s departure to Bangladesh.

“He (coach Gary Kirsten) has to look after everything: he has to sit and talk to the batsmen, bowlers, fielders, build strategies and look after team building.”

The Indian board has recruited former Australian fielding coach Mike Young as fielding consultant but has not decided whether to recruit a specialist bowling coach.

India will start the new year with a triangular one-day series involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Jan. 4 followed by two Test matches against Bangladesh.

Batsman Sachin Tendulkar has opted out of the tri-series to save himself for the two tests.

Reuters