Dubai: The resurgence of Brett Lee has made one of his former teammates and partner-in-crime, Jason Gillespie, quite happy.
"I am not surprised at all that Brett has had such a good run in the World Cup and now the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has worked extremely hard to get back to where he is today," said Gillespie, who had been camping in India as the bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab.
Speaking exclusively to Gulf News from India, Gillespie said that it's imperative for the game — which has seen the tear away fast bowlers on the wane — that the likes of Lee should continue as long as the body permits.
"He has rightly cut the workload for himself and playing only in one-dayers and Twenty-20s," said Gillespie, who not so long ago used to intimidate the rival batsmen in the company of Glenn McGrath and Lee himself.
With Shoaib Akhtar now retired and Lee seeing himself in a restricted role, it's left to a few chosen ones like Dale Steyn to carry the mantle for fast bowlers.
Asked what could be the reason, Gillespie felt there were no clear cut answers to this, though the overkill of the game could be one of the reasons behind it.
"A lot of cricket is being played now, there is a six-week tournament coming up right after the World Cup and this will again be followed up by the international calendar.
"That's the way it is and I think the game's administrators need to take a long, hard look at this… it's difficult to come up with any straightforward answers," said the owner of 259 Test wickets.
Learning experience
Looking back at his first coaching stint with the IPL, Gillespie felt it was a great "learning experience" for him.
"It's a privilege to work in the company of so many international cricketers and I enjoyed it quite a lot," said Gillespie, who formed part of the core of the team's think tank along with erstwhile teammates in coach Michael Bevan and captain Adam Gilchrist.
Despite a late flourish in the tournament, Kings XI Punjab failed to make it to the play-offs, but ended in a creditable fifth spot in the table.
It's however a paradox that Gillespie, who was known for his aggression on the pitch, had been coaching the likes of Ryan Harris or Praveen Kumar the nuances of T-20 bowling where it's more about containment.
Stock ball
"Yes, while it's largely about containment, bowling in this format and on these kind of wickets is an art by itself. The stock ball here would be at the back of a length which would get the batsman on the front foot only to discover it's not in the driving zone. Then you will have to mix it up with the yorkers, slower ones, et al," he said.
The IPL stint allowed Gillespie to take a close look at most of the top Indian speedsters — right from Zaheer Khan to the young Ishant Sharma, and he is quite appreciative of their efforts on decks which offer them little encouragement.
Asked what would be his piece of advice for Zaheer & Co, Gillespie felt it's a tall order for these boys to bowl on "unresponsive" pitches.
"In order to succeed under these conditions, they've got to give themselves every bit of chance and be extremely disciplined with their training regimen. They need to go into each match with a very clear mind," he said.
The discussion veered towards Australian cricket, which is turning a new leaf in the post-World Cup phase with a new captain.
Gillespie, however, does not see much reason for despondence.
"It's true that we couldn't make the finals of the World Cup after four editions. The team is going through a transition, but there are some wonderful players who have come through, while some new players are being tried out. I think it will be a couple of years again before we again reach the top," he said.
