Need to be honest with players who missed World Cup: Paddy Upton

Eight years ago, Paddy Upton was part of an illustrious journey that saw India winning the World Cup at home. As the then mental conditioning coach, perhaps no one had a better window to the minds of the players in that team than Upton.

With another World Cup round the corner, the Rajasthan Royals coach talks to Hindustan Times about the 2011 triumph, working with players, and the disappointment of players who don’t make it to the squad.

Excerpts

As someone who was part of the then team management, how did 2011 World Cup impact Indian cricket?

2011 was actually the first time that a home nation won the World Cup on home soil. There is no country that is more fanatic about the game. It gave so much fame to those players after the World Cup, especially because the previous time India won it was 27 years earlier. It just thrust them even more into the limelight, and into the fame and celebrity domain. That win and the IPL has made young Indian players so much more confident. They are not afraid to play in front a 40000 strong crowd.

That team had many superstars. How did you deal with them?

Those players were all very receptive and were looking to improve the game. They were open to new ways of looking into things. They were always seeking greater heights. They were also a hungry and respectful bunch. It was actually easy working with them.

There was variety in their discussions. Some talked about the mental side of the game, others talked about their family and friends.

MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, from the 2011 team, will feature in 2019 too…

Dhoni was pretty near his peak during the 2011 World Cup. He has done amazingly well to maintain that standard both with keeping and batting. Kohli in 2011 was on the rise, he was not at his peak like Dhoni. One of the things that Kohli has learnt to do now that he didn’t quite have in 2011 is his ability to pace an innings. From the time he comes to the pitch he has this remarkable ability to remain on top of the game—never really falling behind and never really blowing up while either setting or chasing. He has now done that over a long period of time in all formats. He is almost the master of it in modern cricket.

World Cup selection always makes news, how hard is it for players who are not picked?

Two key things while dropping a player is honesty and compassion. One should tell them straight upfront in the first sentence that they have been dropped, and not sugar-coat it. One should be very clear on the explanation of why they have been dropped, while acknowledging the fact that player selection in cricket is a very inexact science. The players might not agree with the reason why they have been dropped, which is normal. Particularly for the players on the cusp, for them it could be a life-time dream almost taken away. Obviously it’s very disappointing for them. It’s important to support them, (help them) navigate the situation, regain perspective and leave the disappointment behind.

Rahane was removed from RR captaincy midway…

When we bought Steve Smith 18 months ago, the plan was to have him as captain. With the Newlands incident he was unable to do that (in 2018) so Rahane stepped in his place last year. Again going into this edition we were not sure about his (Smith’s) availability due to his elbow injury. So again we were very grateful for Ajinkya to step in and be the caretaker captain. Once we were certain about Smith’s elbow and his form, the change in captaincy was just about reverting to plan A. Ajinkya did an awesome job last year by taking us to the qualifiers and it was amazing how he received the news. He was very selfless about it. The team comes first for him. Smith was also supportive of him. Amazing response by him (Rahane), in scoring one of the most attractive hundreds this season.

How do you analyse RR’s season so far

We really have been convincingly beaten in maybe only one out of eight losses. In the other games we were there in the fight right till the end. In this game you need four or five players who perform well. We have been one player short of delivering with the bat or the ball. At the end of a game, the difference for us has been the three extra boundaries that we conceded or the three boundaries that we were unable to score with the bat.

First Published: Apr 25, 2019 09:48 IST