Interview: Baroda seamer Gagandeep Singh Looking forward to the Ranji Season

Interview: Baroda seamer Gagandeep Singh Looking forward to the Ranji Season: Indian domestic cricketers prepare themselves for the biggest challenge of the year the Ranji Trophy. As we approach the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 season CricTracker has Baroda seamer Gagandeep Singh talking about pace bowling in India, the culture, the system that does not exist and lot more.

Excerpts from the Interview:

You are coming out of an injury so how do you prepare yourself for the upcoming Ranji season?

Gagandeep Singh – Last year I suffered a back injury, it took me some time to recover; I underwent rehabilitation and followed a specific training schedule. Once I was through with it have been getting closer to the best fitness level. For the upcoming season, we have special training cycle designed, which is for 90 days, and has different levels and stages, so as we get closer to the start of the season it gets more intense and prepares us well.

Did pace bowling come naturally to you?

Gagandeep Singh – No it didn’t, to start with I was a batsman till the U17 level. But there was a point where I realized I had to do better and eventually around the same time I saw Irfan Pathan bowl. His swing, the lethalness in his bowling, it all pushed me to try my hand at left-arm seam bowling and that is how it happened.

As a young cricketer which bowler inspired you the most?

Gagandeep Singh – Irfan bhai (Irfan Pathan) inspired me to become a left arm pacer. First I watched him play and then had this opportunity to play with him as my senior in the Baroda team. He has been a real influence, has guided and helped me in thick and thin, he motivated me when I was down with an injury. It is a lot more than cricket that you can learn from Irfan bhai.

What is your opinion about the pace bowling culture in India?

Gagandeep Singh – The most important thing is, there is no pace bowling culture, or nurturing environment in India. Here a bowler bowls with his own abilities, he bowls well to the extent his body supports him naturally. A bowler comes in bowls his heart out for the next 3 or 4 years and then he is gone. There is no system to take care of a good bowler.

We don’t see many boys coming up in India who can bowl quick, whereas teams like Pakistan, Australia and South Africa constantly produce genuine pace bowlers. What do you think lacks here?

Gagandeep Singh – It is not that we don’t have bowlers who can bowl at a decent pace, we have had bowlers who came up as genuine pacers but 1 or 2 years into their career they lose the pace. We have seen the case with a lot of bowlers, to extend their careers they cut down the speed. There is no system in India to take care, to preserve pace bowlers and that is where we suffer. A bowler bowls to his best till the time his body supports him to do that.

Once he suffers an injury in order to avoid it, he cuts down the pace. We have also seen bowlers getting injured, undergoing a surgery and losing considerable yards in their bowling speeds, and that can only be avoided if we have a system which guides and takes care of the bowlers even before they get injured.

Nobody tells us how much to bowl, how much to rest, what diet one should have, the nutritional requirements, the precaution one should take in order to avoid injuries and that is actually what the problem is. Fast bowlers are treated like workhorses, let them work till they can without breaking-down and if they do, we can replace him.

How has your experience been with the Baroda team? You have had Irfan, and Munaf Patel for company here. These are the guys who have played for India and carry a lot of experience.

Gagandeep Singh – My experience with Baroda team has been really special, it is one of the best Associations we have in the country. Though it is just a city based team, we have had lot of players who have gone ahead and played for India. The bond that the players share here is really special, we have a small group of individuals who stick together and that really help with the game as well.

It really helps for a young player to have such experienced and seasoned players at the disposal; they not only help you with your game, but have a lot of things to teach about the approach, attitude and mental strength. Irfan bhai and Munna bhai (Munaf Patel) have been of great help for all of us and especially for me, we approach them and they are always so willing to help.

Baroda had a mixed season in 2014-15 you won a few games, lost a few and in the end were not able to make it ahead. What are the targets that the team has set this time round?

Gagandeep Singh – Yes, we won all the away games and lost all the home matches last season, we had really good plans for all the away games. We beat the champions Karnataka who were unbeaten in the previous season and until then in their home. But then we failed to formulate perfect strategies at home, maybe we were a bit complacent. We have assessed what went wrong and have worked on ironing those out. The team is focused at doing better this time round and really looking forward to this season.