Dubai: The name of Paddy Upton stands out almost as an oddball in an illustrious line-up of coaches in the IPL galaxy: Ricky Ponting, Gary Kirsten, Stephen Fleming or even a Tom Moody. However, his role in Rajasthan Royals in a way reflects the basic ethos the team has pursued over the years — that of being understated yet effective.
“Yes, we have enough stars in the team but I don’t believe in star power. It creates a sense of hierarchy in the team,” said Upton, the South African cricketing guru who has been the head coach for the Royals for past two seasons. The team has been off to a decent start in the eighth edition of IPL, but Upton says this is just the beginning.
Speaking to Gulf News from India, Upton agreed that the 2008 champions boast of a number of players who have been scene stealers in the international scenario but assured he would not let it affect the team from functioning the ‘Royals way.’ Three of the architects of Australia’s triumph in the recent World Cup: Steve Smith, James Faulkner, Shane Watson; New Zealand paceman Trent Boult, India’s middle order batsman Ajinkiya Rahane are some of the leading lights of the blue shirts who have got Rahul Dravid as their mentor.
“More important than the star value, we have got players who have done well in recent times, but we should be careful. Fortunately, these are individuals who don’t try to create an aura about themselves,” said Upton.
Celebrated name
A celebrated name in the sporting circles back home, Upton’s name first gained familiarity in India when he joined the then chief coach Gary Kirsten as a mental conditioning coach at the beginning of his tenure in 2008. Much like his friend Kirsten, he has an unobtrusive style of functioning — not many knew how he paid personal attention to resurrect the career of Virender Sehwag or kept him hydrated during his marathon innings of 319 against South Africa in Chennai Test.
The Dhoni-Kirsten-Upton combination gelled well to give Indian cricket some wonderful years around that time when India became the No. 1 Test-playing nation and also went on to regain the ICC World Cup in 2011. The IPL, meanwhile, started to use his expertise as he was first roped in by the now-defunct Pune Warriors before moving onto the Royals.
The Royals dugout thus boasts of two best possible candidates who can provide the team the much-needed calmness in the middle — the Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid as the mentor and Upton as the coach. Asked how they shared the responsibilities — on-field and otherwise — Upton said: “Our combination is working like the way me and Gary (Kirsten) worked together. We compliment each other and work well as a team.
Pausing for a while, Upton went on to heap praise on ‘The Wall’: “Rahul has certain incredible strengths in his perception about the game and brings them on the table while I look at certain other areas. He is such an authentic person with his feet on the ground and it’s always a pleasure to work with him.”
Mental management
The role of mental management, always much in demand in an individual sport like cricket, has been also acknowledged by the IPL franchise owners in recent years. The likes of the legendary Dr Rudi Webster, Mike Horn and Upton have assisted the teams in their hectic campaigns — but how does it exactly work in a slam-bang format as this?
“To be very honest, there is not much room to work on a one-to-one basis. I believe that the healthier a set-up is where the players back up each other, you don’t need to work that much individually. My job hence is to create a team environment where each and every player seems at home,” Upton said.
Incidentally, it’s the second year that Royals will not be playing any of their matches at the home venue Jaipur — dividing time between Ahmedabad and Mumbai instead.
Asked about it, Upton tried to discount the factor in his unique style: “It’s always helpful to have a known home. There is a disadvantage but then we have played in Ahmedabad last year and had a re-familiarisation with the conditions there before the season began.
“Mumbai, of course, is another place where the players are extremely comfortable. It’s not as diverse like say, playing in Abu Dhabi where the conditions were much different last year,” he rounded off.
