Shane Bond bowled faster than most pacers in history. Injuries hampered his career, and yet, few quicks have given cricket fans as much joy as the New Zealander did. It is a pity he could play only 18 Tests, from which he claimed 87 wickets at 22.09. In 82 ODIs, he picked up 147 wickets at 20.88. After retiring in 2010, he has focused on coaching. He spent nine gratifying years at Mumbai Indians as a bowling coach before moving to Rajasthan Royals, where he is the new assistant and fast-bowling coach. He is also the head coach of Paarl Royals, currently playing the SA20 tournament. Bond spoke to The Hindu in Paarl. Excerpts:
Do you think the SA20 could do to South African cricket something like what the IPL did to Indian cricket?
I think so. You can’t beat playing experience. And even when I started, I did six years in the Big Bash, which moved from eight games to 14. And I look at someone like Daniel Sams, who was working, came in, and that experience of playing that amount of games per year, the exposure it gave him, the experience it gave him, all of a sudden elevated him into IPL and into international honours. Because, you can train as much as you want, but it is playing experience and learning off that that makes you better. I think that is what you see in India.
