Gujarat Titans are not ready for elections. The fact that an all-rounder jason holderPlayers of their potential could not even find a place in the playing eleven which tells a lot about the depth of the team. The former West Indies captain has grown in stature over the years and is aging like a fine wine. At 34, he remains one of the most experienced players in the setup, and it may only be a matter of time before he gets his chance, especially considering the recent tremendous returns of Glenn Phillips, Shah Rukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia.
Holder, who has played 69 Tests, 138 ODIs and 96 T20Is, was recently part of West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad, returning with 10 wickets and 141 runs. His best performance with the ball came against Nepal, where he took four wickets, while he also scored 49 runs against South Africa in the Super 8.
However, these performances were not enough for Holder to make it into Gujarat Titans’ playing eleven at the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Shubman GillThe team led by him slipped to sixth position on Monday after losing to five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Ahead of Gujarat Titans’ clash against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday, The Hindustan Times Digital spoke to Holder. He talked about the current season, the game’s growing bias towards batsmen, what makes Gill an effective leader and why active coaches love him. Ashish Nehra It is the need of the hour.
Part:
How have you assessed Gujarat Titans’ performance so far? There would have been a crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians tomorrow.
Look, like any normal season, any part of life, this season too has had its ups and downs. Look, in tough defeats, you obviously take them very harshly. As individuals, we just need to understand how we can be better. And if everybody understands how they can get at least one percent, you know, that adds to the collectivity. This increases our overall performance. Yes, we had a bad fall last night. But it’s not the end of the world. We haven’t even reached the halfway point of the tournament yet. But for us, we know what we need to do to improve. And I’m sure everyone is scratching their heads and putting their hands and heads together to get better and do better for the team.
Just want to clear my mind about T20 cricket in general. Is the game moving towards more batsmen, leaving bowlers with less time to play?
In fact it has been like this for a long time. One thing I really appreciate the IPL for is having a second short ball for the seamers. But even when you look at the second short ball, you look at the score, you have to ask yourself whether it is really helping the bowlers. But at least the bowlers have another option, you know. Very often, when you bowl to good players, and you bowl a short ball at the beginning of the over, they literally camp on the front foot, knowing that you cannot bowl the second ball. So at least now, you know, you can bowl at the front end of the over. You can tuck one of the sleeves up for the back end of the over. But when you look at the scores and the way the game has gone, no boundary is too big for anyone these days. So now it is a matter of the bowlers becoming even more accurate, even more efficient in executing the harder balls.
Just a follow up on this. In that case, can we consider increasing the size of the boundary ropes?
We would love bigger limits. And I don’t think it would be crazy, very crazy. But when you look at some of the grounds we play on and the way the ball moves in the air, it is quite difficult. Lots of mistakes, lots of top edges, inside edges, they find their way to the boundary very quickly. And then especially in India you have amazing outfields. So many times when the ball holes through the gap, it is half-chased because the outfield is very fast. And you have virtually no chance.
This is a good place for batting. You get value for your shots. It is not that you feel that you have to overhit or dominate the ball to get it to the boundary. But yes, it is a tough task for the bowlers. But as a bowler, I look at and feel motivated in these conditions because these are the toughest conditions. So I think if I can perform really well here, then yes, I will perform even in difficult conditions.
I just remember it was tough, especially during the World Cup. But in a way, finding a way has always been my mantra. When you get success in such conditions as a bowler, you have to take that with you.
You must have seen Shubman Gill closely. What makes him such a good captain?
Leading by example is one of his greatest attributes. You see how he runs his business. He is very professional. I have been watching him for some time now. How does he do all his preparation? He is very structured. And yes, it’s no secret where he got so much success from. So I think his biggest characteristic as a leader is leading by example. Obviously, players can see how he plays cricket and emulate it. And I think that’s really important.
One thing I have always said when I have captained teams in the past is that it is difficult to ask players to do something when you have not done anything yourself. So you have to lead by example and make sure that you kind of set the right mantra, so that people can follow and learn to follow.
Is T20 cricket the closest to football style coaching? The support staff continues to provide input as the game progresses. Do you see any similarities between the two games?
I will not even say that only in T20 cricket. I think my experience is from international cricket. I think that’s where the head coach’s job really is. Head coaches are now seen more as managers, managers in a sense. And then you have your specific skills trainers. And I think that’s probably where the game is going overall. It is also important that trainers still deliver training.
Especially I am a part of this team, which is led by Ashish Nehra. He is also quite skilled especially due to his expertise in bowling. It’s really great to see, because it takes a coach. You need to feel his presence. He radiates a great energy through body language. I call him the energy god. He is one of those people who can prepare you for the challenge and give you good advice. He is also very knowledgeable about sports. So I think he has really good qualities as a coach.
The Impact Player rules continue to polarize opinions. What do you make of it? Are you a fan, or does this negate the all-rounder’s impact?
Very controversial, impact player rules. This is one of them which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Suppose you see a situation last night where it is Tilak Verma. He got 100 points and spent a lot of time on his feet. He also got injured in his waist while batting. Sometimes, it is tough to be forced to field like that in that situation. But with the impact player rule, you can pretty much put your feet up, and someone else can come in and take his place. But when you look at the overall game and especially the performance of the all-rounders, I would not say that it is killing the all-rounders. I think I completely disagree with this because I think if you are a quality all-rounder, you will stay in the game regardless.
What the impact player rule has probably done is differentiate, like, basically genuine all-rounders from players who will either bowl a few overs as an all-round option or come back and hit a few balls as an all-round option. For me personally one of the things that the Impact Player has done and the Impact Player rule has done is really made me better in my skills to make sure that I’m not one of those players who is sitting there as an Impact Player because one of my skills maybe doesn’t match the other.
This is a case where I think all-rounders have to get better to be able to occupy that spot as both a back-up and a bowler. There has been much debate about the impact player rule. And it’s one of those where, yes, there are days when you say, yes, I like it. And there are days when you say, no, I don’t really like this. But I guess that’s how life generally works.
Last question, more and more T20 leagues around the world are adopting the auction model. There is a lot of discussion on social media about the price someone will get. Do players think about the weight of the price tag when they step onto the field, or is it a case of parking everything outside?
I would be naive to say that a player doesn’t think about price sometimes. On the other hand, how you cope with it is important. When you look at IPL, there are not many leagues that conduct auctions. Obviously, there are a hundred people who have just been auctioned. I think the SA20 was auctioned. And I think ILT was auctioned last year. But almost all the rest are drafts. Oh, there was PSL auction this year. But yes, I think it is good for the players.
But maybe we can move away from auction-style altogether and go to football-style, where, you know, you set your price based on your value. And you’ll be able to negotiate how much a team can pay. And there is almost no limit to it. I think, in the NBA, you’ve got a huge salary cap. Football, I’m not sure if there’s a salary cap. But in the NBA, you pay the player, or you negotiate with the player to get what you think is the right price.
It is possible that cricket will reach this path. And if teams can afford it within the salary range, you manage your budget and your papers based on what you think they’re worth. But I have no problem with the auction system. But as a player you need to understand that this is beyond your control. So whether you bought for Rs 1 crore or you bought for Rs 25 crore, it is out of your control. For you, it’s mainly about focusing on what you need to do to make your next 25 crores, your next one crore, or take your one crore from one to three, or your 25 from 25 to 27.
Who knows? But that’s just what you have to deal with. And as a player, we can only deal with our performance and our skills. So ultimately, if you focus on that, you’re more likely to stay switched on and dialed in.
