Eric Simons confident about the rehabilitation of Virender Sehwag

India’s bowling coach and the assistant coach of Delhi Daredevils, Eric Simons, is very happy and satisfied with the progress of Virender Sehwag and feels that the right-handed top-order batsman is going to make a strong comeback in International cricket as well as the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The explosive opener has been struggling with his shoulder for quite some time now but he aggravated the injury during the previous season of IPL. The right-handed batsman is also the captain of the franchise.

Since then, Sehwag has missed out on International cricket. He was called to England to play the last Test of the series against England but he disappointed with a king pair and was later ruled out of the limited overs series.

Simons feels that Sehwag is one of the most important players for India and his presence does make a huge difference, both for India and for the Daredevils. He is hopeful that the experienced opener is going to regain his fitness sooner rather than later.

"Sehwag is obviously very important to Delhi Daredevils from certain aspects. Obviously, he's our captain and a real match winner for us. It is great to see him come through his operation the way he has so far. He's looking very strong and very fit," the coach stated.

India struggled big time in their recent tour of England and Sehwag was dearly missed. The opening batsman has also been ruled out of the initial part of the One Day International series against England, which is going to start on the 14^th of October, with the first match at Hyderabad Deccan.

Simons claims that Sehwag is making rapid progress and has started practicing once again.

"He had two very long nets during the course of this week. I have no idea. He's not going to rush. It's in everyone's interest that when he comes back he's ready. The medical people can answer that best. But at the moment he's being very, very closely monitored," he added.

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Australia expected to name new bowling coach this week

Cricket Australia is expected to name its new bowling Coach this week, with Allister de Winter and Craig McDermott among the leading contenders.

The former Australia pacers, Andy Bichel and Jason Gillespie are already out of the race to become Troy Cooley's successor.

It has also been reported that at least one high-profile overseas candidate is still among the short listed candidates.

The 46-year-old McDermott, who was appointed by Cricket Australia as the assistant at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, is supposed to the most fitting replacement for Cooley.

The Queenslander was also given a chance to press his claims to replace Cooley by sending him with the team to Bangladesh last month.

McDermott made his Test debut in December 1984, against West Indies at Melbourne. He went on to play 71 five-dayers before bidding farewell to the Test format in 1996.

His last Test appearance was against Sri Lanka in January 1996. In his 71 Test appearances, McDermott scored 940 runs and picked up 291 wickets.

The right-armer debuted in the One Day International format of cricket in January 1985 and that too against West Indies at the same Melbourne ground.

His last ODI was against Kenya on February 23, 1996. During his 11-year-long ODI career, the former Queensland speedster played 138 One day Internationals picking up 203 wickets at an average of 24.71 and an economy rate of 4.03.

Whilst McDermott is the front-runner for the coveted role, the former Tasmania all-rounder, de Winter, has also made it through the first round of interviews and could be a surprise appointment.

The 43-yaer-old De Winter never played an international game. However he played seven seasons with Tasmania Tigers from 1986 to 1983. He was a fringe player of Tigers and picked up 35 wickets from 21 First-class matches.

He had also coached the Tigers and was part of Cricket Australia's coaching development programme in South Africa in 2009.

Last summer, he mentored the Tasmanian attack and it helped the state a lot as they secured their second Sheffield Shield title.

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