Former Australia pacer and renowned coach in county cricket, Jason Gillespie, is still fond of his experience working with Indian Test cricketers Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma during the summers in UK.
Gillespie, in a new series of interviews released on Youtube channel called 'Cow Corner Chronicles' talked up the work ethic and discipline that he saw when Pujara and Ishant arrived to play for Yorkshire and Sussex, respectively.
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"We had Cheteshwar Pujara at Yorkshire a few years ago, when I was head coach there. We needed a batsman in the top three who could do a job for us in sometimes challenging conditions, Someone with a very good temperament, someone who could absorb some very good bowling," said Gillespie about Pujara, who played for Yorkshire in his first county stint in 2015.
"Pujara fitted that bill perfectly. I think he found it a challenge, the early season in county cricket with the dukes cricket ball moving around in English conditions. He found that a challenge. I think that was really a good test for him as a player, a good learning curve for Cheteshwar."
While Pujara was always one of the mainstays of the Indian Test batting line-up, what really brought Gillespie fame as a coach is the transformation he inspired in Ishant couple of seasons ago with Sussex.
"You know what really struck me about Ishant was his thirst for knowledge, his willingness to listen, ask questions, try new things, because sometimes you can get senior players, experienced players who will just go about and do their thing," he said.
"They know what they need to do and that’s fine. But Ishant was very much...he knew what he needed to do to bowl well. He also knew he wanted to get better."
Ishant was absolutely superb after that stint in England, Australia, West Indies and recently, even in New Zealand.
"The Sussex players were really impressed with Ishant’s work ethic," said Gillespie. "They loved his personality. He fitted in really well in the dressing room. But his capacity to learn, ask questions, try things. His work ethic in the nets, or on the track was phenomenal. It was really good for our young seam bowlers at Sussex to see, that this is what it takes for a Test bowler."
“He is an Indian Test bowler, and he is bowling really hard and working really hard to get better at his game, and he has played about 80 Test matches (at the time). And he is still trying really hard to get better each and every day," added the 45-year-old.
"So, it was really good for our young bowlers at Sussex to see such an experienced player, who has played so much Test cricket, continually trying to improve and get better."
(Inputs from IANS)
