In the last couple of years, we have seen a perceptible improvement in your fitness. Even during the lockdown, you looked game ready. Give us a sense of how you go about your preparation.
It’s not rocket science. You have to keep practicing. At times, you practice hard before a tournament or during the tournament but once you go home we tend to take a break. I feel these breaks don’t really help. Rather it breaks one’s rhythm. When you are back from a tour you should work on your skills more seriously and that’s exactly what I do. I have set up my own training area next to my house and I can bowl as much as I want and I can train as much as I want without any problem. That’s what I did during the lockdown as well. During tournament breaks, I practice every day till I am satisfied that I have trained enough for the day. This has helped me a lot.
In the last few years, India’s pace attack has been among the best in the world. And you are a key cog in this wheel.
It gives us immense confidence to think that everyone believes that as a bowling unit we can defend any score. All the bowlers in the line-up have been fantastic not only for the past two years but for the last five odd years. Since we have defended quite a few low scores, we are generally confident when a similar situation arises again. Our batting unit is also very good. So in our minds we know if our batting unit hasn’t been able to score a certain amount of runs, the opponents will find it difficult to score as well and this always motivates us to do better and push our limits every single time. Our biggest advantage as a bowling unit is that we have been playing together for quite a while now and know each other well. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and which bowler is capable of delivering what in any given situation, hence we can easily back each other up.
But don’t you think the middle-order could have done better in the last few series. Hasn’t that added to the pressure on the bowlers?
As a bowling unit we don’t think about all this. Of course, if you ask any bowler he would like to defend more runs at any given time. We have a simple approach, we just see how many runs we have to defend and we plan accordingly. There is no point in thinking how many more runs our batters could have scored. What’s important is to defend what they have scored and we channelise all our energies in doing that.
How do you see your future in T20 and one-day cricket?
I want to perform for the team in all formats. I am not bothered about the colour of the ball. Every time the selectors, coaching staff, captain show faith by giving the ball to me, all I want to do is to fulfill my responsibility as a bowler. I don’t think too much about records or which format I am playing more. If you are playing for India you have to give your best, that’s it.
What does the team need to do to win a World Cup? India have another opportunity this year with the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The league stages of the World Cup and the knockout stage are two completely different phases. You can afford slip ups in the league stages but the margin of error is very small when it comes to the knockout stage. According to me, in the knockout stages of the World Cup we should have a playing XI which has performers who are suitable for such high-pressure conditions. A lot depends on that. Cricket is a high-pressure sport and in sport one team is bound to lose but it’s important to field your best XI to give yourself that extra bit of chance of winning.
India have a new captain in Rohit Sharma. You have seen him for over a decade. What are your thoughts on him as leader?
I haven’t played under Rohit’s captaincy but I do believe that he will be a good captain looking at the way he approaches the game. Rohit is a very good player and he has played so many match-winning innings for India but captaining an international side that too in a World Cup will be a first time for him. It will be important for Rohit and Rahul Dravid to make a squad of 15-17 players whom they can rotate and include in the 11 depending on the pitch and situations. Rohit does have captaincy experience. He has been captaining Mumbai Indians for so many years and has won so many titles for them. In white-ball cricket, Rohit has been one of the best batters for quite a few years now. We need to give him some time to adapt to the new role. I feel he will do a good job in the World Cup.
It’s not like we haven’t played well in the World Cups. But at times luck hasn’t gone our way. I’m sure we’ll do well in this World Cup and Rohit, as a captain, will need to figure out which bowler to use in which situation. Given his leadership ability he’ll surely do it.
You mentioned luck. Do you consider yourself one of the unluckiest bowlers? You beat the edge constantly but don’t get as many edges as you should.
(Laughs) It’s my job to bowl well, to test the batters at all times. Yes, it is frustrating but one has to be patient. Ultimately every bowler needs a bit of luck and I feel you will get the wickets which you are destined to get if you keep bowling well. Hence I concentrate on challenging the batters. The seam position that people talk about hasn’t happened in a day, a lot of hard work has gone behind it. My way of handling pressure and frustration is to laugh it off. I won’t be able to bowl well if I become frustrated or let the pressure get to me. So I just try to laugh it off and continue bowling in the channels that I am supposed to hit to put the batters under pressure.
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