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Dubai: T.A. Sekar, the renowned bowling coach who shaped the careers of many pacers in the sub-continent, has hit out at the Indian cricket board for ignoring the MRF Pace Foundation, an organisation that has helped India strengthen its pace attack.
"Today India has an impressive line up of fast bowlers mainly due to the MRF Pace Foundation. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should have taken MRF on board and worked closely with them. Though many of the BCCI members were for it, it still did not materialise," said Sekar, who has quit his post as the chief coach of the MRF Pace Foundation and has joined as cricket operations manager of the Delhi Indian Premier League (IPL) team.
"The Australian Cricket Academy and the England Cricket Academy, that have the best facilities in the world, work closely with the MRF Pace Foundation. So, BCCI's reluctance to work along with MRF is something beyond cricketing reasons."
Sekar is here to conduct a two-day clinic for the Cricketlovers.com academy.
Spinners' days
Till Sekar and Australian legend Dennis Lillee started churning out pacers through MRF, the Indian team used to heavily depend on its spinners to win matches. "I am proud that India today has the option of 10 fast bowlers fighting for the four slots in the team. It is this kind of competitive edge that is needed to win matches."
However, he did warn the BCCI to act immediately and ensure that spin does not vanish as a weapon. "We are struggling for spinners now. The BCCI must put their act together and find some good spinners for the future," he pointed out.
Talking about the Delhi team's chances in IPL, he said: "Delhi is a very young side and we have picked a multi-skilled team. Players like Virender Sehwag and Shoaib Malek can bat and bowl while Daniel Vettori can not only bowl but also bat. With Glenn McGrath, who still has the fire in his belly and Mohammad Asif, we have an excellent bowling attack."
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