Ashish Nehra: 'From year one, you should be looking to win the tournament'
The Gujarat Titans coach talks about the franchise's auction strategy, the building of the squad and what he expects from the team's first IPL season
I would say more excited. I am more excited this time because here we are talking about a team where you can start everything from scratch, and getting a team after retaining three players at a big auction.
The most important thing is the kind of squad we've got: we have a mix of youth and experienced guys, and you're looking to build a team for the next few years. Yes, IPL is that kind of a tournament [in which] from year one you would like to do well, and you can do well because everybody has the same purse. We have enough allrounders, we have a good bowling unit, we have a young, exciting captain. There will be things over a period of time we will learn, but right now if somebody asked me, "Are you happy with your squad?", I'm very pleased the way things have gone.
We didn't go to the auction thinking that so and so is a must and we are willing to pay anything for him. There were a few franchises that went in with that mindset and they had that requirement because they wanted their previous players. But other teams also wanted them, which meant the price went really high. Our mindset was not like that because there were so many good players in the auction and also there were ten teams. We are happy with our squad, as we got what we wanted. If you go into the auction or the field with a clear mindset, the chances of you doing well are better.
"IPL is the kind of a tournament in which from year one you can do well because everybody has the same purse"
We had already retained three players. Two of those players, Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan, I had paid Rs 15 crore (about US$2 million) for, and Rs 8 crore ($1.06m) for Shubman Gill. Yes, I would have liked to have all of these guys but we have only so much money. For example, for Washington Sundar or Shreyas Iyer, we were ready to go up to a certain price. [But] we are talking about a team sport. Yes, you need match-winners, you need players with that X-factor, but there's a price to it. Then we got Lockie Ferguson, Jason Roy and Mohammed Shami. Club them with the three players we had retained, then build a team around this group.
I would not say that. Somebody else also asked this question. I said, "What is on paper?" You look to make a good team at the auction, but at the same time there are players who you [the franchise] believe in. Everyone's thinking and mindset are different. I don't see it as thin on paper from any angle. When you look at our bowling, there is experience in Shami, Rashid and Ferguson. We have the experience of Matthew Wade or David Miller. Even Gill is an experienced guy. He might be 22, but this will be his fifth IPL. You can count on your fingers five to six guys with so much experience.
There are two sides to a coin. If you have an experienced captain, things work differently. But everyone has to start somewhere. When Gary Kirsten took charge of the Indian team as head coach, it was not like he had been coaching prior to that for five years. Or when MS Dhoni took charge as Indian captain, it was not like he had been leading Jharkhand for a good four to six years. Hardik Pandya might not have captained previously, but both of us will learn from each other as we start spending more time together during the season. He is very excited and very positive. He is taking it as a very big responsibility. At the jersey launch he said a very nice thing: "I have been talking to all my players and I'm just telling them, a win is yours and a loss is mine." So I told him that we want to give you responsibility, yes, but it shouldn't become a burden. It should be enjoyment coupled with responsibility. I am not someone who will judge everything only by the results. The teams that have kept their process proper, gelled well, have had a good work ethic, kept things simple, have been successful more often than not. We want to follow a similar approach.
But this time there will be people in his ears (laughs).
Yes, we are here to make the strategy and help him, but he has to make his own decisions. He has to express himself. He is someone who has just taken charge, he will learn things over a period of time. So many times you take decisions on the spur of the moment and later realise you could have done things better.
When I saw him in Baroda, he was good, bowling around 80%. That was a few weeks back and he was feeling really comfortable. Since then he went to the NCA [for his fitness test] and has been practising non-stop. He has used this word, "surprise", once or twice, so I jokingly asked him, "What is this surprise? For me the only surprise can be if you are bowling 145-plus. Apart from that, what is the surprise?"
He said nothing. To be realistic, if he can bowl around 134-135kph-mark - he has the heavy ball, has a lot of experience - he is more than an asset if he can bowl, be it for India, for the franchise, or himself. But from day one I have been saying, in any T20 squad, I will take Hardik Pandya as a pure batter. As far as our franchise is concerned, I am looking at him more as a captain and batsman. And maybe that is why he is saying [his bowling] is a "surprise".
"The teams that have kept their process proper, gelled well, have had a good work ethic, keep things simple, have been successful more often than not in the IPL. Gujarat Titans want to follow a similar approach"
I wouldn't say it is a concern. We are having a preparatory camp right now where we look to play two to three practice games. More game time is always better for somebody who is coming back from injury. With these two guys, they just need a game or two and they will settle in quickly.
Unless he wants to open (laughs). Yes, he is a middle-order batter, but in IPL, based on the situation or some condition, you might also see him bat at No. 3.
When you discuss strike rate in T20, it all depends on the conditions and the match situation. Sometimes that strike rate is good for certain grounds, for a certain player of a certain team. You are talking about his strike rate of 130-135 [123.00]. Majority of the guys, even Virat Kohli [129.94] or Rohit Sharma [130.30], are around 130-135, if I am not wrong. Here you are talking about Gill, who is 22. He is only going to get better. He had a great three-four years with KKR. But from our side it is not only about the numbers - that your strike rate has to be this [much]. I mean, there can be a turning wicket and it could be only a 130-run game and he scores a 50-ball fifty… you have to consider such things and then analyse.
We have not decided that yet. But the value Rashid Khan brings as a player and what he brings to the table and the kind of person he is, I don't think I can explain in words, or I don't think I need to.
No. We have Rahul Tewatia. And then you have Hardik Pandya. We have Lockie. We have Shami. Then we can play another fast bowler. We have the choice of playing R Sai Kishore. We have the choice of Jayant Yadav. Vijay Shankar is there, if needed. We have seven-eight bowling options. I have seen teams in the IPL playing with five or six bowling options with just four pure bowlers. We have the luxury of going in with five pure bowlers, and I count Rashid as an allrounder.
They are strike bowlers. Shami, I have always valued him. As a strike bowler he looks to take wickets upfront, which is a huge bonus in any format. And Lockie, again, who can bowl anywhere, he has got pace and how. That's why he got that kind of a price. And he has been an X-factor player wherever he has played, especially for New Zealand.
I have played with him in my last few years. In the last three or four years the kind of experience and the kind of maturity he has shown... the two fast bowlers in India we always discuss are Shami and [Jasprit] Bumrah. And it is not one or two series. The kind of fitness he has shown, the kind of long spells he has shown [he can bowl], it is really exciting to see. The price we got him for was a steal. And if he had gone for more, we definitely would have tried to push for that also, I can say that.
"From day one I have been saying, in any T20 squad, I will take Hardik Pandya as a pure batter. As far our franchise is concerned, I am looking at him more as a captain and batsman"
That is very important, not just for a bowler, even for a batter. First things first, you need to see what your strengths are, and then you look to improve and do new things. Shami and I are on similar wavelengths - we keep things simple. The good thing with Shami is, he knows his strength and that strength works for him. That's what you call experience.
I am not sure [if I agree with] finding feet, that it's okay, we are a new franchise, we'll give our players two or three years and slowly we'll start qualifying [for the playoffs]. In the end every franchise had an equal purse to make a team, and we were lucky enough to retain those three players. Of course, it takes a little time, the way things are with Covid and all that, to gel [as a group]. But from year one, you should be looking to win the tournament. As a team you must always think positive. It is not like Gujarat Titans has come up with a completely new team, where out of 20, 15 players have never played IPL or international cricket. Then you can say that [about finding feet]. All these guys have been part of the IPL and have also played international cricket.
I hope so, that's why they got me (laughs).
Yeah. More than 100%, which is great.
I don't think they need to set any target. As I explained earlier, it is the players who want to win the most. The owners understand that very well, and they have seen in the last few months the thinking of the support staff and players and where they want to take the team. Yes, they also would like us to win, and they have seen us working for long hours to achieve that goal.
The most important thing in the IPL is how you react in pressure situations and in close games. Those two points are key [to success]. I am not saying that our aim is only to qualify, but if you want to go step by step [for playoffs], you should know how to win those close games and how to make fewer mistakes. This team has so much talent, but you have to be patient and you have to work together. In the IPL, if I'm not wrong, around 75% games go really close; I would say around 50-60% games go to the 20th over. It is for the players to understand those situations and what the team needs at that point of time.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo