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In full flow, South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn was a sight to behold. Extreme pace allied with late movement made life miserable for batters. Steyn finished with 439 wickets in 93 Tests at a superb strike rate of 42.3. There’s lot of excitement about his role as Sunrisers Hyderabad fast bowling coach as he guides the new pace sensation, Umran Malik, whose 150kph-plus thunderbolts and bounce have lit up IPL. In this interview the fast bowling legend talks about guiding the Jammu bowler and the rest of the pace pack.
Excerpts:
It must be great to work with a talent like Umran in your first stint as coach?
It’s great. I just retired, so it’s less coaching and more like excitement. I am at the top of the mark with them and we just talk: ‘what you gonna bowl now? what are you thinking?’ We talk cricket the whole time. I am not dictating to him. I get so excited when he says, ‘I am going to bowl a yorker’. He bowls one and knocks the batsman over in the nets. “Coach, I am going to bowl a bouncer”. I say go for it, and then you see the batsman lying on his back in the nets. It’s really exciting standing so close and being able to watch that happen. He has got better and better. He has found rhythm, how he likes to take wickets, wants to bowl. Also, he has been allowed by the captain and coach to do what he wants.
What changes have you advised Umran?
Confidence is the big thing. The first two-three games, he went for a couple of runs; that’s what happens when you are a fast bowler, bowling at the speed he is bowling at. You can very easily lose a little bit of faith in yourself, you might want to change something—“maybe I should bowl slightly slower with more control”. But he has been given the go ahead by the coaching staff. The guys have told him “there are going to be days when you will go for runs because of how fast you bowl, not because you bowl badly”. Another day you run in and take four wickets and bowl a maiden over, that’s also what pace does. You have to take the good with the bad. He has realised that if he sits in that middle ground, he is going to be successful. He is accepting the days when things will not go well because of his pace and loving the days when it goes really well. Then being humble by bringing himself back to the middle ground where he can carry on. It is great to see that.
You were in demand in commentary as well, but come to coaching and straightaway have someone like Umran to work on. Is it like “this is what I want to do next”?
Let’s be honest. Umran is phenomenal, but we didn’t know this was going to happen. I looked at him and was like this guy has a lot of pace and has lit up IPL but I was really excited to come and work with guys like Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) and Nattu (T Natarajan) who have been around for a long time and make sure they achieve the things they want to. They are current India players. It is exciting they are playing at the highest level. If I can help them (not alter them at all), they are the guys who are going to drag the Umrans and others (up). We got absolutely lucky, got an absolute diamond in Umran. We are only half way through the tournament; if we keep working together who knows at the end of this IPL there could be a couple of other players who are going to be in high demand for India. We want to win IPL, for the players individually that is the big goal.
Bhuvneshwar had lost a bit of pace, swing. What has changed for him?
We have given them the freedom. He is treated as a senior player and we’ve allowed him to express himself, as is Nattu. The freedom to train the way they want, make sure they hit their straps. They know what they have to do to perform at the highest level. You know you are coming up against the best Indian players, not just the best in the world. There is no better feeling than beating your own countrymen. (For me) getting Andre Russell was great, but getting AB de Villiers was my ultimate goal. When I walked back into the South African team, I had the respect from AB (because) I got him out. That is the thing about IPL, the only time you get to compete against the best other players from your own country, and there is an edge. In this IPL we have really started to see the best of Bhuvi and Nattu.
Is Umran ready for international cricket?
My prediction is he is going to be a superstar. How he gets there is entirely up to him and those who manage him. From a playing point of view, you are guaranteed one thing: extreme pace. That is going to be the level he wants to operate at. He does it at the nets, games—everything he does needs to be operated at extreme pace. I am sure his career will also go really quickly. But right now the cricketing world loves watching him play. We love a story like this; it doesn’t bother if he is an Indian or is from Afghanistan or South Africa or New Zealand. We love to watch, come on to the scene, create absolute chaos and watch him blossom.
How do you communicate with him?
Cricket is a universal language. When I am talking to him, ask what length you are going to bowl, he knows. Hard length (means) it’s hard length; top of off-stump, it’s top of off-stump.
We got a cricket language which we speak and I can see it on his face. When he is happy, when he is smiling, then I am happy. When I see a concern on his face, I will go and put an arm around him and pull Washy (Washington) or (Abdul) Samad or Bhuvi, and ask ‘what’s on your mind, is something bothering you?’ We find our ways to communicate.
Your reaction was great when he bowled KKR’s Shreyas Iyer.
That was all Murali (SRH mentor Muttiah Muralitharan). He said if he bowls a yorker now he will get a wicket. I said to him if he bowls a yorker he will be hit for four because Iyer was kind of leaning back, wanting to hit him over the head. He wasn’t pitching anything up at that point. He pitched it up and knocked the stumps out of the ground, and I jumped on Murali, ‘you are genius, you should have been a fast bowler’.
SRH have a balanced, varied attack—Kumar, Natarajan, Umran, Marco Jansen and the spinners?
They complement each other; they are all different. Great thing is we have Bhuvi and Nattu who are fantastic finishers and have taken the job with a smile on their face. A lot of the guys are a little bit nervous bowling the 19th, 20th overs (because) you can go for runs, it can ruin your figures. But these two want that position. Because they want it, they are doing so well. They have got strong game plans. They have also got get-out-of-jail deliveries. As soon as they are under pressure, like they are bowling to Andre Russell or Liam Livingstone, they are able to go to Plan B or C and get out of danger. That has made our job easier.
You have spoken about how Graeme Smith as captain handled you so well? How is it to have Kane Williamson handling these bowlers?
Massively. He is constantly communicating with all the coaches, what language he needs to speak to these guys. Because in cricket there are some players who need to be shaken up a little bit and they want to feel a little bit of fire. There are also individuals who you need to put your arms around and ask if everything is going well. Kane is a master at managing his players really well as was Graeme (with us). Simple things like making sure when Umran is bowling to have a guy like Bhuvi at mid-off or mid-on, because they can communicate well. Kane says it to Bhuvi and he goes to Umran and puts it across. Kane is a great man for this job.
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