India’s bowling coach, Eric Simons, claimed that he is looking forward to join Duncan Fletcher in the upcoming tour of West Indies and believed that it will be a big challenge for Fletcher to coach the World Champions.
The 49-year old South African, whose contract was extended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, expressed that he expected that Fletcher will bring innovation in the Indian team with some new ideas as he did with the England team during his coaching period with them.
The England team was in great form in 2004, by winning eight consecutive Test matches including the Ashes series of 2005 under Fletcher’s guidance.
Simons and Fletcher will both join the Indian team from the next month on the tour of West Indies.
While talking to the media, Simons said, "I have never worked with Duncan, so I am looking forward to working with him. I am sure he will bring in some fresh ideas to the team like he did during his English stint. But I think coaching the No.1 team in the world will be a real challenge for Fletcher".
Simons and his compatriot, the former Indian coach, Gary Kirsten, both played an important role in the Indian cricket team’s win in the 2011 World Cup after 28 years.
Simons also guided his players well in the recent tour of South Africa where the Indian team was successful to draw the Test series for the first time.
On the renewal of his contract, Simons said, “I had agreed in principle to continue as the bowling coach. Now that they have agreed to give me an extension, I have to sit down with them and discuss the nature of the contract and the tenure".
Simons also claimed that according to India’s structure in the world of cricket, his job is getting difficult.
"These are exciting and tough times for me. The last one year has been great for me and now the job has become tougher. The challenge will be to keep the team on top. The expectations are always high from World champions and living up to them will be a challenge for this Indian team", Simons explained.
Talking about the Indian bowling line up, Simons said that it is the Indian selector’s duty to decide which bowlers would be consistent in their performance. He explained that his job is to give confidence to the bowlers and further described that when one is confident one can run in and bowl quickly in good areas. He added that those bowlers who are performing well are consistent with their performance throughout the match or series.
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