Having tasted a fair amount of success as the Indian bowling coach in places with varying conditions -- from Bangladesh to Ireland, and England to South Africa -- Venkatesh Prasad says the tour of Australia later this year will be the toughest one yet. In this chat with Deccan Herald, the former Indian paceman shares his experiences with the team so far. Excerpts.    
 
How do you look back at your stint so far as the bowling coach?
It's been very interesting and challenging. When I say interesting, what I mean is that I have been able to learn so many things. I am getting to understand players and how the players deal with certain situations. I am also learning in the process. In that way, it's been very interesting. It's challenging in terms of making the bowlers understand me well and gain trust in me. Because as a coach, I need to know what a bowler is thinking, he needs to discuss his problems, weaknesses with me frankly so that I can help him solve his problems.

How much has it helped you having a longer stint than say a bowling camp or two as it used to be earlier?
When it comes to those players who are with the team, it's easy to know what's happening with them. But we need to work on those who are not with the team. I think it is here that the role of National Cricket Academy becomes crucial. The fringe bowlers can come here and work on their conditioning, bowling and so on and so forth. For that, I think we need to hire a full-time trainer, physio and also maybe a bowling coach who can be in touch with us to give feedback. I have also suggested to the Board to have a pool of 15 to 18 bowlers and those who are not travelling with the team can train at the NCA. It also gives us a chance to replace somebody who breaks down in the middle of a tour.

Talking of breaking down, how important is injury-management for a fast bowler, considering the hectic schedule we have?
Very important, I would say. I think each one of us -- the coach, trainer, physio and the bowler himself -- has to be working on this area. Because, the player knows how deep the injury is, whether he can push himself or not. He needs to be honest about that. Secondly, we can monitor players during nets, how much workload they can go through. We can have shorter or longer stints depending upon situations. The rotation policy can also help us here.

How much do you think one can interfere with a bowler's action?
There is a very thin line between tinkering with a bowler's action and rectifying mistakes. For that, first I need to know if a particular bowler's action is coming in the way of his performance. For example, if a bowler has a roundish action, he may be swinging the ball a lot but may not be accurate. So it doesn't mean you ask him to bring his arm straight. He is still bowling well and taking wickets, so why unnecessarily change his action? In that case, you can have separate sessions with him and make him realise where he needs to aim the ball and the time of his release.

Would you say our bowlers struggle on flat wickets than say when they get something out of the pitch?
I don't think any team has a set of bowlers who can swing the ball at such good pace as we do. But where we lack is consistency. It's not that we struggle while bowling on flat pitches, it's probably to do with trying a bit too hard or not being disciplined. It's not rocket science, everybody knows about it. We’ve got to work on it and we are working on it.

As a fast bowler, what inputs do you give spinners?  
Whatever I do with the fast bowlers, it's same with the spinners as well. There's not much of a difference. Having played at the highest level, of course you know how to grip the ball as an off-spinner or a leg-spinner. In fact, what was interesting for me was working with Anil (Kumble) on his foot positioning at the time of delivery. What I am trying to say is that the basics remain the same.

As someone who relied more on variations, how much emphasis do you place on pace?
You do need to have some pace. It's not that you swing the ball at 115 or 120 kmph. If you get the seam position right, anybody can swing it at 115. But what is also important is to bowl in the right areas. It has to be a good mixture of pace, swing and discipline. You can get hammered even if you swing at 150 kph and don't have discipline!