Focus for us is development of players, informs Paras Mhambrey
India U-19 coach Paras Mhambrey shared that the goal was to develop the players for their future endeavours as the side leaves for the Under 19 World Cup in South Africa. Mhambrey pointed out that gelling the side into one was the toughest task for him as a coach ahead of the mega event.
As the Indian contingent prepares to lift yet another U-19 World Cup, starting on January 17 2020, head coach Paras Mhambrey shared that the team is preparing the same way as the last edition. The former bowling coach of the team opined that the process is to be valued more than conquering the championship.
"The preparation started one and a half years ago in the previous campaign. A similar process is being adopted out here and that's the focus - how the process is and how do you want to take it through," Mhambrey said, according to Cricbuzz, on Sunday (December 15).
"The process, for me, is very important. You can't judge that by just winning a tournament. That's not the larger picture. It's good to win, especially at the platform we are at right now. But the focus for us is the development of the player. It's (World Cup) a stepping stone as one of the tournaments the player will play going ahead in his career. There's first-class cricket after that, there's representing India at the highest level. And in that process, this step is forward."
The World Cup will be preceded by a quadrangular series, a triangular tournament and a few practice matches in South Africa, which will help India acclimatize to the conditions on offer. The intent was to simulate the conditions that are expected to be on offer in South Africa.
"It's good that we are getting at least 10 games before the first match of the World Cup. Those games do give us the opportunity to experiment and find the right combinations going ahead. It definitely gives us the option of trying a couple of options. So in case, we encounter a particular condition in the tournament, we are in a position to take the right step," he stated.
Mhambrey played down that the 10 matches before the tournament will wear down the boys as he stressed it would allow them to rotate the players and everyone will be exposed to the foreign conditions.
"If we look at it the other way, it gives us the chance to rotate the squad, so that we can give enough breaks to individual who we feel needs that break. Also, it is important because the conditions that we encounter out there will be completely different to what we have when we play out here. In that sense, it gives them an opportunity to acclimatize themselves to the conditions, wickets. That's what we are looking at," Mhambrey added.
One of the biggest challenges the former India bowler stressed on, in his role as a coach, was to ensure that the team bonds well, especially with players from different parts of the country coming together.
"The big challenge is going to be about gelling as a unit. That's important," he said. "It's good that they play a lot of cricket, play with each other. They play with each other at the state level or the junior cricket. So, individually, they know the other person. Individually, they spend a lot of time off the field as well. So, by doing that, they know each other's habits, likes, dislikes, nature - whether they are temperamental or not."
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