 Allan Donald has said that he was approached by the BCCI officials to gauge his
interest in the coaching job for the Indian cricket team. Donald is a former
South African pace bowler, and was in India for a commentary stint for ESPN-Star
during the Champions League T20 in 2009. Venkatesh Prasad had earlier been
India's bowling coach for a period of more than one month, but after worries about
the Indian bowling struggling to find form, he - along with the fielding coach
Robin Singh - was sacked.
Donald had said that while the officials had approached him, they had also
said that it would probably take the BCCI some time before they could offer
him the job. It has been said that the BCCI is said to be thinking about getting
in a bowling coach before the South African side tours India for two Test matches
and three ODIs.
Donald also said that it would be foolish to not consider the offer. He said,
"I had an informal chat during Champions League Twenty20 with an
Indian board official. I would be interested to talk to the BCCI regarding the
bowling coach job that is currently vacant and I'm keen [on the job]"
The recruiter who had come to talk to Allan Donald had also asked him
whether he would be interested in a full-time job. Earlier, Donald had been
a full-time bowling coach of Warwickshire, but had later given up on the role
because he wanted to spend more time with his family. It was during this time
as the coach of the Warwickshire side that he had met up with India's pace bowler,
S. Sreesanth. Sreesanth was on a stint for that county in 2008.
Rather unsurprisingly, Donald had been highly critical about the manner in
which the Indian pace bowler had trained. He had said about Sreesanth, "Just
in terms of his desire, and if he has got any ambitions of playing for India
for a long, long time, he should his change his habits."
Donald also said that Shanthakumaran Sreesanth techniques on training
had not been good enough and that was one reason why he wasn't a regular feature
in the side. He had then said, "First of all, his training habits are not
good and the way he goes on to the field need to change. Then, he doesn't put
enough time on specifics."
Dhoni had earlier bemoaned the absence of a regular bowling coach for India.
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