Redefining Rahane's role in Rajasthan Royals helped him: Desai

CHENNAI: The hawk eyes of Monty Desai are missing in IPL 10. It was Desai, as talent scout and performance coach of Rajasthan Royals and then with Gujarat Lions for the past eight years, who brought numerous obscure talents from various parts of the country notably Kamran Khan, Amit Singh, Praveen Tambe, Shivil Kaushik and a few others to light.
However, Desai has taken a break from his coaching duties with the Lions this season and has embarked on a journey across the globe to develop his own business.
In an exclusive chat with TOI, Desai opened up on various subjects. Excerpts:
You have been involved with the IPL for eight straight seasons but not this time. Why are you not part of the IPL this time around?
My passion for cricket coaching stays on top but at the moment I am glad where I am looking after the development of my business. With IPL I am enjoying a different role as an online spectator watching games closely for various tactical ploys, execution of skills under pressure, new faces especially bowlers who are stepping up. There were few developments on business front that demanded my attention and a substantial amount of time.
You have spotted numerous talents like Kamran Khan (2009), Amit Singh, Ajit Chandila, Pravin Tambe (2013), Shivil Kaushik (GL, 2016). What makes you guys (scouts) believe in a rookie and back them?
We had a team together to identify talents. I'm glad that I was part of decision making and also the freedom given to us by our owners backed with great leaders helped a lot. Over a period of time I too started enjoying my role and grew with confidence. We believed there were a few good players in past who never had the opportunity to be seen and were never given a fair run to perform in domestic cricket. Also when it comes to rookies there are situations and sometimes curious questions for finding specific role players.
When you give fair trials on the same platform for players who may have played a lot of Ranji trophy games and some other player who has equally worked hard, played, performed at a different level but if that someone stands out for a specific skill executed time and again under alternate pressure that was created through match scenarios, then you need to go deeper thinking why that particular player was successful even when he has not represented state team enough.
Kamran Khan is an example. He was slingy, deceptive, full of energy when we first saw him in trials and with a big heart to bowl yorkers. Praveen Tambe on the other hand played years in the maidans of Mumbai cricket and rubbed his shoulders pretty much with many state cricketers when they represented their respective clubs while playing leagues and Times shield in Mumbai. He always came across as fighting character who would never give up on any game he is involved. His consistent performances in DY Patil T20 against already recognized IPL players made me think about him little more seriously and as a group we decided to give him fair trials in Jaipur where he stood out for his particular skill (ball that drifts in..batters found it difficult to line him up).
I would consider Sanju Samson a rookie as well when he first came to our trials, he just excited us straight away with his clean bat swing and ability to pick fast bowlers length early to dispatch them over deep midwicket. Shivil I was just impressed with his attitude more than his action where he was willing to take on challenge. I was then involved in trials with Pune where I first saw him and liked what he offered against right-handed batsmen. I felt it was good enough reason to risk a base price on a rookie to create part of a winning strategy. Well officially then I was on board with Gujarat Lions so Hodge was excited to take on the suggestion given.
Basically thinking starts more in this regards when we say rookie we are just not looking without any valid reason but more importantly we are focused on unearthing possible talent that remained unseen and has a potential to be playing and performing at next level which in these cases was IPL.
Except for Tambe, most of the rookies have been able to sustain their place in various teams. What do you think is the reason for it?
Tambe is a seasoned campaigner even when he didn't play IPL, like we discussed earlier he consistently performed in DY Patil T20 which is a very well recognized tournament where scouts are on the look. Kamran same season had an injury and also had to rework little bit on his action which then affects your natural abilities. I consider Sanju as a great success story at young age and very early stage in IPL. Also it comes down to that individual player who should be looking to improve all the time and take it to next stage. IPL is such a tournament where many recognized players find it difficult next season to be in playing XI both domestic and international players, I am sure if you go through number players over the years many faces are not seen any more.
The IPL is in the tenth edition now. Throw some light on how teams used to pick rookies at the auctions in the beginning stages of the IPL and how has it evolved in the later stages.
I am very impressed with the homework down by Sunrisers think tank. Rashid Khan is one big story that IPL and SRH should be proud of. We can say Rashid is one successful rookie when compared to all other recognized international players. A lot of bowlers seem to have been the main targets this time. Tymal Mills is another big one.
You had worked with so many high profile names. How long did it take for the team management, players and captain in general to trust your judgement about the rookies or any other unknown player that you suggest?
I would like to believe honesty, consistent on field behaviour and unconditional approach must have been one of the important qualities that may have stood out to let me around for such a long period in IPL. I still consider myself lucky in first place to have got an opportunity to work in IPL. Over the years you learn and gain experience to correct mistakes from the past. There were mistakes done while scouting and coaching but I think I was willing to take the ownership of mistakes done and validate with what can go well for future. Again I had more seniors around me who were willing to back me when things didn't go according to what was predicted or thought to be…. I think when your fellow coaches, players, captains recognise your work, your knowledge of the game and your ability to stand by your views trust factor gets built. We had ownership group at Rajasthan Royals who believed in creating platform for unknown players and that helps.. Our Philosophies matched.
How much of a say does a performance coach/analyst/mentor have in the money cap that could be invested on a player? (For example, Natarajan was bought for Rs 3 crore by Punjab; as a high performance coach, would you tell the team that this guy isn't worth buying for that much or is worth that amount). Please explain.
Every game if you see closely in IPL, man to man, skill versus skill there is a constant need of someone who can add to winning phases. Successful legspinners in powerplay phase, death bowlers with abilities to bowl yorkers at will with a combination of a deceptive slower ball. Auction dynamics doesn't allow you to very clearly say or predict exact worth. By that I mean even a crore extra to bid could be the difference between getting a right player in your team to having playing safe and then looking back and regretting. We give the team management a set of players whom we can go for.
Rookies at base price can be just gamble worth like Shivil last year. Even this year, I did give my inputs to Hodge in the build-up to auction. They had three pacers in mind. Natarajan, Basil Thampi and Nathu Singh. Gujarat picked Thampi and Nathu. I have been impressed with Thampi and you can sense that he is trying to do the right things such as bowling yorkers and back hand slower ones. I felt Thampi (Rs 85 lakh) and Nathu (Rs 50 lakh) were picked at good value for money.
Some players you target to get in your squad may be just for one or two games but those one of two games could the difference to the win IPL. Example Ben Cuttings' contribution last year for SRH or Bipul Sharma's 3 sixes against Gujarat Lions. Sometimes you also get lucky getting much more worth player at a lesser price as auction dynamics forces few teams to hold back money for their targeted big names.
I was not at all surprised when Natarajan got picked for Rs 3 crore as Bowlers are going to be in demand in this format but as we are aware auction dynamics are such that when two or three franchisees start bidding and realize there may not be any other opportunity to grab a skillful bowler they try to out-bid the competing franchise.
How would you describe Shane Warne's method of captaincy and Rahul Dravid's style of leading the team?
Shane Warne was an out thinker. He loved taking risk, had a very natural style of leading, defending low totals was his forte. I remember at least 3 games where his on-field aggressive tactics helped Royals win the game. He was very natural at empowering his players and time that he spent off field also helped. On a lighter note his philosophy 'play hard party hard' helped young players to free up and they just felt they belonged there as much as the more recognized players.
Rahul Dravid worked very hard on his own preparation, gave lot of importance to it and lead by example which helped many to understand why he was successful. He was admired by all for his off field behaviour which brought in certain amount of calmness in the team. He is a great student of this game, use to gather all the information and go about with his on field business very meticulously. He is very open for suggestions, gives lot of time in the lead up to the tournament, showed lot of willingness for innovative tactics. Both were different but are very successful personalities.
Ajinkya Rahane became a top T20 batsman under your eyes with Royals. What made the turnaround for him? What's your assessment about him now?
Again it was teamwork. We believed he was best suited at the top. Yes I enjoyed personally doing lot of throw downs to him. I think at Royals redefining his role helped him a lot. We wanted him to have freedom and sensible player like him understands that with freedom comes responsibility. He was willing to take that responsibility and assured 500+ runs at a strike rate of 120+ that helps as we now know we need work on roles of other skilled players around him. Basically he is a team man and will be willing to work around. He has grown now more into a very dependable national team player, and he will only keep progressing as he works very hard on his game.
What are the criterias does a scout look at while calling a player for a trial?
There are no specific criterias. If it's an established team which is only looking for particular skills then it's different. We always tried to do fair trials for every one that we shortlisted through visiting different matches through trusted recommendations to have a look. We do not believe in such 15-minute nets sessions or trials as it's good enough to get some information but not enough to take a decision. There is lot of background research that goes in.
Are there any current international stars (Indian and foreigners) with whom you had worked during IPL and are still currently in touch with you discussing their game?
Yes there are a few. It would be not fair to discuss any names as that will be breaking their 'trust'.
What was your thought about IPL when you first entered the scene and how is it now? Your overall observations.
For me in 2008 it was a blessing. I was looking forward to more learning, picking brains of recognized personalities from around and play my role to the best contribute sincerely. When it comes to IPL just look at number of talented players India have seen. IPL has undoubtedly contributed to confidence of so many young Indian dreams.