Troy Cooley backs Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah to lead the Indian pace attack

Troy Cooley, the former bowling coach of England and Australia, backed the appointment of Anil Kumble as India’s new head coach and believes the side has the necessary talent in the pace attack to do well in the future. Speaking to media persons at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai on Saturday, the former Tasmanian cricketer also talked about the importance of managing the workload of pacers as key to avoiding injuries.

“It is important to manage fast bowlers. It’s a high impact discipline that is hard on the body. Bones don’t develop fully until later. A young bowler has to learn to adapt and grow. You need to take care of your pacemen, spread them across matches,” he said. “Pacemen are not robots. We have to strike a balance.”

Reacting to Kumble’s recent comments that he wanted the faster bowlers to stand up and be accountable for themselves, Cooley agreed that a core group of faster bowlers was required to manage through the rigours of modern day cricket.

“A bowling coach will make a very good head coach,” Cooley said, referring to Kumble’s appointment. “An attack needs to have a pack of leaders. And the system has to ensure that everyone gets an opportunity to lead. The attack has to have variety. Bowlers hunt in pairs but the same pair cannot bowl all day. So you need to have different pairs.”

Cooley feels the Indian side has got it right in this regard.

“Umesh Yadav is an exciting young pacer. He can generate a lot of pace and can be extremely lethal,” he said. “Even Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have great quality and variety. Recently, Anil Kumble (Indian head coach) had said he wants his bowlers to be leaders. These two pacers definitely can lead the attack provided others give them good support.”

Cooley admits Australia might have overworked Mitchell Starc

Cooley,who has been serving as the head coach of Cricket Australia's Centre of Excellence in Brisbane since 2010, admitted that the national side might have over-relied on Mitchell Starc leading to his recent injury troubles but added that they have learnt from their mistakes and was managing the likes of James Pattinson and Pat Cummins a lot better.

“He (Starc) has been phenomenal. He has been on the road for the last three years and didn't have a rest for a long time. So probably, that took a toll on his body somewhere,” Cooley said. “I won't deny that we didn't lose pacers due to injuries. We have given time to Pattinson and Cummins to heal and they will be back soon. We would rather give them a break for three weeks rather than losing them for six months to injuries.”

“We are cautious now and we build a programme for a bowler in such a way that they can deliver their best whenever they take the field. So Starc will hopefully start off from where he left,” he added.