Bangladesh's strength at the moment is fast bowling: Shaun Tait

Former Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait seems to be a happy man seeing his charges shine in his own backyard. In an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz, the former Australian pacer shared his experience of coaching in Bangladesh while pointing out what worked for the touring pace unit down under and more.

Here are the excerpts:

Bangladesh are playing Australia and the pacers are bowling brilliantly. How does it make you feel?

Tait: I'm very proud of them, I must say. I'm very happy. Even though they're playing against my home country, I'm just so pleased to watch them do well.

Bangladesh are missing Nahid Rana but the way the rest of the pack stepped up suggests they are growing in strength.

You know what? I think I did an interview with you maybe when I was bowling coach and I feel we spoke about it as I said to you that there's some great depth there. Even if there's a couple of injuries, there are other guys to come in and stand up. And, and I truly believe all the fast bowlers, they can all play all three formats. I think all of them are very versatile bowlers and I think that's a massive thing for Bangladesh.I think they've done really well and I think there's a number of years to come where they're going to thrive.

How do you see Hasan Mahmud’s development as a pacer?

Yeah, and he's come back from injury as well. Recently he had an elbow complaint and so I think he's done really well to come back from that injury. The medical staff have obviously done a good job with him. I think the most important thing is he went to play county cricket as well for Kent. I've been talking to him a little bit and he got exposed to some county cricket and I think that's just good for your confidence. We know he can play Test cricket but with his yorkers he can also play T20Is. You know he's a really good person to work with. I became quite good friends with him and I'm so pleased to see him do well.

Usually a pacer is very aggressive but he seems to be very calm. Do you think that's one of his biggest strengths?

Extremely calm, very mild-mannered, nice person, you know. Like, not the typical fast bowler, aggressive, and all this sort of thing but he's an intelligent person. He's an intelligent guy. He thinks about his cricket really well and I think you're right he's very humble. He's a very level-minded person.Coming to Australia and, and performing like that is just fantastic.

Do you feel like Hasan knows what he's capable of when it comes to pace? I mean he knowshe cannot bowl 150-plus as he doesn't have that much pace so he knows that he has to work out on his variations and is that one of his biggest strengths?

I'm looking at this Test match, he's just bowling really boring which is exactly what you need to do in Test cricket as you just need to bowl a boring length, a good length all the time. The best bowlers in Test cricket do that. They just bowl a really good length all day long and I think he's been able to be really consistent. Even if you look at the Test match compared to even some of the Australians, Hasan's been really consistent with his line and length. And that's the trick. If you can be consistent, you can be successful.

Earlier, Bangladesh’s pacers used to bowl a lot of short balls in overseas conditions because they weren’t used to these pitches. But this time, they seem to be bowling much fuller lengths. Do you think this is a big area of improvement for Bangladesh?

100%. You're exactly right there. 100%. That's a big thing. If you're pitching the ball up in Test cricket, any form of cricket. You know, we used to talk about this with them when I was there, and I think they've continued that even since I've left. I know the coaching staff are still pushing that, that idea, just to bowl that fuller length, especially in conditions. And I think later in the year they're going to South Africa as well. And it's the same thing, it's the same thing in South Africa. Pitch the ball up there, bowl a little bit, almost to the point where you're bowling a little bit too full, it's better than bowling too short. I even think in the subcontinent you can do that as well (bowling fuller lengths) and then you can justas the day goes on you can just adjust your lengths. But I still think the mindset, even in Bangladesh, even in India, even in Pakistan, you can still pitch the ball up. That's a good starting point.

Do you feel Bangladesh’s pacers are coming of age and that, unlike in the past, the team is no longer heavily dependent on its spinners?

I think I said this before it just takes Bangladesh cricket to understand that their strength right now is fast bowling. That's definitely the case and I believe Bangladesh's strength at the moment in their cricket is fast bowling. And, and they started producing better, better pitches at home in Bangladesh for the fast bowlers, and they got some really good results, even in white-ball cricket. If they just keep nurturing their fast bowlers and keep producing wickets in Bangladesh that give the fast bowlers something, they're going to have a lot of success and like we've seen, they can go overseas and also have the same success. But I guess the challenge now is to back it up in the second Test match. They've got to finish off this Test match really strong, hopefully, and then the second Test match against Australia is going to be another challenge. Now, hopefully they can back that up and bowl well again.

You always said that you try to teach the fast bowlers to keep it simple...

Well, look, I only played three Test matches, but what I do know is the best bowlers of all time have, you know, they've, they've got different attributes, but one thing they all do is, is bowl really consistent, and like you said keep it simple. And I think, I mean a lot of my conversations with Nahid Rana even over the last 12 months were just, just keep it simple. You bowl 150 kilometers an hour, you don't need to do much. You don't need a million slower balls, you don't need too many things. You just need to bowl a consistent area and your pace is already there. I think all credit really has to go to the players. I think sometimes too much credit goes to the coaches, and, and I think the coaches, as coaches we only guide them. I think, I think at the end of the day the players really do deserve the credit.

Probably Hasan follows the same mantra just to keep it simple?

Yeah, 100%. I think he already knew that even before I got there. I think the best thing with these fast bowlers is if you can create a happy environment for them. So for me, I think the number one thing was to try and create a really peaceful, happy, enjoyable environment for the fast bowlers and if you can do that and not give them too much information I really think you can have some success. And, you know, I think it's really important that keeps going.

Any plan of returning?

Oh, look, who knows? Look, for me it (leaving the post of Bangladesh’s pace bowling coach) was very much a decision for my family. I think I could come back in some capacity but not, as full-time with all three formats...

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