The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Prasad pleased as punch with his wards

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Prasad pleased as punch with his wards

Special Correspondent

Perth: Hailing India’s swing-bowling attack as the "best in the business", bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad said his wards had succeeded in embracing the “Indian way”.

“Almost all of our bowlers have a fantastic seam and wrist position, which allows them to swing the ball anywhere," said Prasad. "Of course it swung in Perth with the breeze. Also, they have the pace — about 135 to 140, which is not express, but (combined) with swing they can trouble any batsman.

“We have to bowl keeping the strengths of our bowlers in mind. Anil (Kumble) keeps saying we should play the Indian way, not try to copy others, and that’s what we’ve been doing. They might not be express, but they are all strike bowlers.”

Asked what had contributed to the bowlers’ success, Prasad said, “We made sure we prepared to our best, both mentally and tactically. We studied videos, but not much, because it was about using it in match situations, using visualisation. ”Commending the young attack, the former Indian seamer said, “R.P. (Singh) is fantastic. He has shown a lot of responsibility leading the attack in Zaheer’s place. “Irfan is a very positive cricketer. He goes that extra mile and has great desire. It’s his hard work that’s paying off.”“Ishant, (despite) being the youngest, bowled a very mature spell yesterday. I have not seen such a spell for very long. It’s only because he is willing to do that, he wants to do that, could he sustain it.”

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