Appointed as batting coach of South Africa for the upcoming three-match Test series against India, former Mumbai veteran Amol Muzumdar reckons the Proteas shouldn't be excessively worried of the spin threat that Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja pose in these conditions.
"It’s a challenge, no question about it. But there’s no point focussing excessively on Indian spinners," Muzumdar, one of the country's finest ever domestic batsmen, told Mumbai Mirror. "India have a potent attack which doesn’t revolve only around spinners. If you focus on that area, you may miss out on other aspects."
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"If you plan and prepare, then it’s only a question of execution. Against spin, we’ll have to deal with it. It’s an ongoing process. It requires skill and the right mindset. If you have that balance, you should be able to tackle it."
This is going to be Amol's first major assignment as a coach in international cricket. The right-hand batsman, with 171 first-class games behind him, started off his journey as coach by doubling in as a cricketer-cum-mentor in Netherlands late in his playing career.
"I’d like to break this myth here and now that only if you’ve played international cricket, you’re qualified to talk about the sport. If I’m the torch-bearer, let me be one. Coaching is a completely different aspect."
"If I know my subject fairly well – and mine is batting – and can give valid suggestions, then my job is to convince him (the player)," he added. "How I do it is my skill. And if I know my subject well – which I do after 21 years of first-class cricket and four years in junior cricket – I don’t feel the urge that I should have played international cricket."
Amol holds significant coaching certificates from BCCI, Cricket Australia and a couple of major counties in UK. He is also part of Rajasthan Royals' support staff in the IPL.
"There was lot of diversity in my playing career just like the way it’s with my coaching career. And I love it. I don’t stick to a plan," he said. "I enjoy working with people from different ethnic backgrounds. You must make sure they’re in a comfortable space. You should integrate into their culture whether it’s the Australians, the Dutch or the English. In that respect coaching is a challenge."
"In the last few years of my playing career I went to Holland as player-cum-coach. There was a lot of coaching involved right from their junior boys to the main team. Then I returned to India to play first-class cricket for Assam for whom I doubled up as player and captain — I coached them too."
"So in the last few years of my playing career, I was also involved as a coach. In addition, I had the inclination to learn, so I did my Level 1, Level II in England and later did the same courses in India too. Then I completed my Level III in Australia from Brisbane’s Centre of Excellence three years ago," Amol concluded.
(Inputs from Mumbai Mirror)
