Rahul Dravid believes IPL franchises are "missing a trick" with regard to their support staff appointments by not involving more Indian coaches. Dravid felt Indian coaches were as good as any in the world, and even if not appointed at the top of the tree, they would add value as assistant coaches too, given that a majority of players in every IPL franchise are Indian.

"I believe we've got some very good coaches, a lot of good people. I'm fully confident [in their ability]. Just as we have a lot of talent in the cricket department, we have a lot of talent in the coaching department," Dravid said in Lucknow on Thursday. "We need to give them confidence and time to flourish. I'm sure they will do it.

"It does sometimes disappoint me when a lot of our boys don't get opportunities as assistant coaches in IPL. Honestly, there are so many Indian players in the IPL, there's so much of local knowledge [among our coaches]. I feel a lot of teams could actually benefit from using a lot of our Indian coaches in the IPL. They know the Indian players better, they understand them better. Even as assistant coaches… there is a lot of talent and ability. It just needs to be given the opportunity, and flourish."

In an expanded role as the NCA director, from previously being the head coach of India A and India Under-19, part of Dravid's remit is also to develop Indian coaches in addition to overseeing the next rung of talent in Indian cricket.

"A part of our goal is to create a programme for coaches as well, so that we can give them certain skills in which they can develop - and hopefully then get the opportunities to work at a slightly higher level," Dravid said. "I think a lot of IPL teams miss a trick by not using more domestic talent in the coaching area and the talent identification area, even if it is as assistants. That's my personal opinion.

"It's not for me to decide for franchises and head coaches what they do, but I think they miss a trick by not involving more Indian coaches. Indian coaches understand and know the system, and they know a lot of Indian players. Every IPL team has at least 17-18 Indian players. It's my personal view, but I would love to see a lot of our boys get the opportunity to be in and around that environment. Hopefully we can work with some teams to try and ensure that."

Dravid was in Lucknow to observe the ongoing one-day series between India Under-19 and Afghanistan Under-19 as part of preparations for the World Cup early next year. Victory in the fourth one-dayer meant India took a winning 3-1 lead in the series. Dravid said the trickle-down effect of the success of India's pacers had in international cricket could be seen in how many young cricketers were taking up pace bowling at the age-group level.

"Every year now in Under-19 cricket, we've had some very good fast bowlers," Dravid said. "Last time, (in the Under-19 World Cup 2018), we had three of them in Kamlesh (Nagarkoti), Shivam (Mavi) and Ishan (Porel). This year also you will see some good fast bowlers in the team."

‘I’m still a bit stiff but playing will help me start moving better’
By JEROME ELHAIK – Squash Mad Correspondent

With a successful comeback to the court, and plans in place to represent his country and return to the PSA World Tour, Grégory Gaultier can at last afford himself the luxury of looking forward in hope rather than looking back in despair.

After being out for 13 months because of a serious knee injury, Gaultier returned to competition last Saturday at a French League match in his home club, Annecy.

He will be back on the PSA World Tour in New York in January, but before that the French General will be a big asset for France at the World Team Championship (15-21 December) in Washington.

We caught up with the 2015 World Champion, who is now willing to look forward after going through hell.

HIS COMEBACK

“I felt very emotional before the match (author’s note: which he won against 18-year old from Créteil, Manuel Paquemar), especially because it was in my home club and many people came to support me. Some of them saw me when I was on crutches and feeling down, and all they wanted was to see me back on court. I enjoyed myself during the match and had no pain whatsoever.

“My knee is feeling much better now than a month ago, when I started training on the whole court again. When you’ve been out for so long, it’s only natural to be cautious. I was compensating and using my left leg a lot, which led to a few niggles here and there.

“I’ve done a lot of weightlifting to regain some muscle mass, a lot of biking for the cardio fitness as well as some solo drills to get the feel back with the racquet. Now that things are moving in the right direction, I am gonna be able to concentrate on more specific footwork exercises, in order to get my speed back. Then, my first step will be quicker, I’ll be able to volley more etc. The more I’ll play, the more my joint – which is still a bit stiff – will loosen up.”

THE END OF A NIGHTMARE

“I went through hell, but I fought every single day to have a chance to play squash again – which has been the thing I love since I’ve been four years old. A lot of people suggested I should give up, and others even said I may be able to play again but at an amateur level (he laughs) … Obviously they didn’t know me very well!

“I didn’t really pay attention to be honest, because I am the one who gets to decide when my career is over. Of course, I need to go step by step and I cannot set big targets too quickly. Besides, beyond playing competitively again, the primary goal of the recovery was to prevent me from being disabled and to get back to a normal life.

“The doctor who carried out the second surgery did a great job, and we worked very hard with the physios so that my joints would regain their mobility. My whole staff – my physical trainer Thomas Adriaens, Renan Lavigne etc. – worked together to get me back on track, and of course I did my part of the job.

“It meant going through six-hour physio sessions, and doing tons of daily exercises. Some days were harder than others. When you are going through this kind of stuff, you ask yourself so many questions. But I’ve always had belief. Today I am seeing light out of the tunnel, and it’s a big step for me.”

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THE POWER OF SUPPORT

“I am lucky enough to be surrounded by great people. There are Thomas and Renan whom I’ve mentioned before but also Yann Bourrel, Mathieu Benoit, Frédérique Barthelemy, Jean-Marc Poupel as well as all the physios at the National Centre in Aix-en-Provence.

“It’s easy to be by an athlete’s side when he’s a the top, but it’s a whole different story to stick with him when he’s hit rock bottom. These people know what kind of a person I am, and they did not want to give up on me.

“Let’s say we’ve done a few small things together (he laughs), for example when I won the World Championship in 2015. These are the kind of experiences you cannot forget. I know it’s not always easy to work with me because I demand a lot, but on the other hand my staff know I am disciplined and I always give one hundred per cent. That’s why they didn’t hesitate to spend countless hours brainstorming together, so we could find a way out of this …”

BACK ON THE TOUR IN 2020

“I get a lot of messages, some from people telling me they will only resume their Squash TV subscription once I am back on the tour! I’ve just registered for the Tournament of Champions (9-17 January in New York). I know I won’t be at my best yet, but I had to jump in at some point …

“Let’s not forget I suffered a very serious injury. My right leg isn’t 100 per cent yet and I need more rhythm. I think by February or March, it should be getting better and better. At this stage, I am not setting any goals in terms of ranking and so on. On the other hand, I am a competitor, and I am not gonna turn up at tournaments to make up the numbers.”

BUILDING SOMETHING SPECIAL AT ANNECY

“It was a great day last Saturday, there were a lot of teams across all levels playing next to each other. It was pretty packed, and the volunteers from the club did a great job as usual. All the players arrived the day before to hit with the kids from the academy, it was great to spend some time with them.

“As far as our project goes, there is still a lot to do and you can’t get everything right at first! But things are going in the right direction, and we started our regional training centre for the youngsters in September.

“We need to keep promoting squash towards kids – we’ve set up a partnership with some clubs in the area – as well as organising events such as the Annecy Rose Open, which will be a 20k PSA tournament in March 2020.

“As far as I am concerned, I am delighted to be involved in this project. I know a few things about squash (he laughs), and I am happy to bring my experience. Putting some energy into it, and diving into my role as a captain and travelling with the team when I couldn’t play, certainly helped in this difficult time.”

PULLING ON THE FRENCH SHIRT AGAIN  IN DECEMBER

“I am glad to be back on court, and even more so with France. The younger French players have been improving lately and are on the right track. Let’s hope that in the future they’ll win some medals in team events, like we did with the previous generations. In the meantime, I hope I am gonna be by their side for a few more years, before I pass the torch.

“In Washington, I will do everything I can to help the team, like I’ve done for almost 20 years. There are three more weeks before the Championship starts, and during this time I am gonna be working so that I am in the best possible shape. I can’t wait!”

Pictures courtesy of JEROME ELHAIK and ANNECY SQUASH

NEW ORLEANS -- Late in the Los Angeles Lakers' 114-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in Anthony Davis' homecoming Wednesday, LeBron James visited the ESPN broadcast table to express his disappointment with a call that was being reviewed.

With the Lakers leading the Pelicans 108-107 with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was called for a shooting foul on New Orleans forward Brandon Ingram.

With Caldwell-Pope throwing his hands up in disbelief at the whistle, Lakers coach Frank Vogel used his coach's challenge to prompt the crew chief Zach Zarba to review the call.

While Zarba was examining the video, James approached ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy courtside to share how incredulous he was with the review process.

"That's a bad call," James said, which was picked up on the game broadcast. "When the ref makes that call he don't never want to be wrong. They're never going to overturn it. Ever. Ever."

Sure enough, the call was upheld, costing the Lakers their final timeout and awarding Ingram two free throws that he made to put the Pelicans back up by one.

From there, the Lakers finished the game on a 6-1 run to win and improve their league-best record to 16-2.

When asked about the referee's ruling after the game, Vogel sidestepped judgment.

"I don't see the replays like they do, so I'll have to trust them, but we'll see," he said.

This season, the first in which a coach's challenge has existed in the NBA, only 39% (52 of 134) of called fouls on the court have been overturned or changed to a non-foul or a foul on the other team, according to ESPN Stats & Information data.

It was the second time James had the refs in his aim on the Lakers' 4-0 road trip. After he attempted zero free throws despite taking 27 field goal attempts -- 16 of which were in the lane -- in Memphis, he challenged how he was being officiated and Vogel vowed to contact the league.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr cut his right hand during Wednesday night's 104-90 win over the Chicago Bulls after breaking a clipboard in frustration. Kerr made light of the situation after the game, as he wore a bandage on his hand while speaking to reporters.

"It's a mere flesh wound," Kerr said. "I broke a clipboard. It's one of two. I'm allotted two [broken clipboards] a year. This was number one. It always cuts [my hand] in the same place. This was a little deeper one. I was a little more upset."

This is not the first time Kerr has broken a clipboard, but this particular incident came early in the fourth quarter as the Warriors were trying to close out the game.

"We just had a stretch there where we were very careless," Kerr said. "Particularly in transition defense. And we let them sneak behind us. Those are cardinal sins. We're 3-15 coming into the game, so every play matters, every possession matters and you got to fight for everything, and I thought our guys did a great job of that down the stretch and deserved to feel good about the game and I'm really happy for them."

Kerr's intensity was appreciated by his players in the huddle.

"I love it," Warriors rookie Eric Paschall said. "A coach like that cares. He wants to win. And Coach Kerr as a player, he's been through it all. He's a winner himself so he wants to win. He wants to change everything so I feel like we responded correctly tonight and played well together ... you respond to that. Having a coach that cares so much about his team and how we're playing, that means a lot for players just because he cares."

Kerr's clipboard break was a hot topic of conversation in the Warriors locker room.

"He f---ed his hand up pretty bad," forward Draymond Green said. "There was blood all over his pants. And then he got a new clipboard. There was blood all over that clipboard, too. He got a rise out of the team, though, we turned the game back around."

Warriors big man Omari Spellman said he didn't even see Kerr snap the clipboard, but he saw the aftermath.

"I saw him leaking [blood]," Spellman said. "I was like, 'Yo, why is he bleeding?' He was like animated, but he just kept going like blood on the clipboard. I'm like, 'We're in the heat of the moment, I ain't going to talk about it.' But I was completely confused."

The Warriors closed out the Bulls to earn their fourth win of the season. Green says he believes Kerr's outburst gave the group a lift.

"I think we needed it," Green said. "We always talk about just not get comfortable with losing. We've seen this movie a couple times where we're playing well, we get the lead, and then we lose it and lose the game so I think that came at a great time for us and you got to give our guys credit. Everybody responded, which was important."

Kerr says he believes his hand will be fine heading into the Warriors five-game trip that starts in Miami on Friday.

"I'm day to day at this point," Kerr said with a smile. "No stitches yet, but we'll see [Thursday]. There was blood on the clipboard. Maybe that should be the headline for your story."

VENTURA, Calif. – Jesse Colwell was the fastest man in town during practice for the 79th running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix on Wednesday at Ventura Raceway.

Colwell, who made his USAC debut a year ago at Turkey Night just weeks after earning a ride with Keith Kunz through the KKM Giveback Classic, toured the fifth-mile beachside oval in 12.912 seconds (55.762 mph) to lead 59 cars that attempted a lap on Wednesday night.

USAC Western States Midget Series point leader Robert Dalby was second-quick at 12.919 seconds (55.732 mph), followed by outgoing series champion Logan Seavey in third.

NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson – who has won the last two USAC National Midget Series events at Placerville Speedway and Bakersfield Speedway, respectively – and Jason McDougal completed the fast five.

Jerry Coons Jr. was sixth, ahead of Aaron Reutzel, Dillon Welch, event rookie Carson Sousa and Rico Abreu.

Thursday’s schedule is intended to kick off with on-track activity at 3:15 p.m. PT, however rain is in the forecast and a contingency plan of running the entire program on Friday is in play if necessary.

PRACTICE RESULTS: NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series; Ventura Raceway; Nov. 27, 2019

Practice (best of three sessions): 1. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.912; 2. Robert Dalby, 4D, Dalby-12.919; 3. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.933; 4. Kyle Larson, 1K, Larson-12.994; 5. Jason McDougal, 71m, FMR-13.067; 6. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-13.115; 7. Aaron Reutzel, 87, Tucker/Boat-13.141; 8. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-13.142; 9. Carson Sousa, 01, Dalby-13.163; 10. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.176; 11. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-13.228; 12. Kaidon Brown, 97w, Wood-13.231; 13. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.232; 14. Spencer Bayston, 19, Hayward-13.245; 15. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-13.250; 16. Gio Scelzi, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.251; 17. Carson Macedo, 21, Tarlton-13.253; 18. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-13.280; 19. Damion Gardner, 4, Klatt-13.301; 20. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.312; 21. Ethan Mitchell, 08m, Dave Mac-13.318; 22. Chase Johnson, 25x, Malloy-13.323; 23. Daison Pursley, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.323; 24. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-13.345; 25. Colby Copeland, 27w, Wood-13.363; 26. Buddy Kofoid, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.377; 27. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.377; 28. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.394; 29. Ryan Bernal, 77w, Wood-13.395; 30. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.427; 31. Cory Elliott, 11E, Elliott-13.438; 32. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-13.454; 33. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 17JR, Clauson/Marshall-13.456; 34. Jake Bubak, 27B, Bourke-13.474; 35. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.493; 36. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.508; 37. Maria Cofer, 71s, Campbell-13.523; 38. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-13.535; 39. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-13.536; 40. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-13.566; 41. Brady Bacon, 73T, Ford-13.669; 42. Daniel Robinson, 57D, McCreery-13.683; 43. Kyle Beilman, 31B, Beilman-13.683; 44. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-13.696; 45. C.J. Leary, 13, Gile-13.702; 46. Troy Rutherford, F5, Simmons-13.714; 47. Robby Josett, 73x, Ford-13.827; 48. Chris Sheil, 91, Mason-13.831; 49. Carson Garrett, 15x, Garrett-13.844; 50. Bryan Drollinger, 71D, Drollinger-13.931; 51. Chad Frewaldt, 4F, Frewaldt-13.952; 52. Emilio Hoover, 9H, Hoover-13.962; 53. Mark Chisholm, 56x, Chisholm-13.972; 54. Jake Morgan, 45, Morgan-13.977; 55. Nick Drake, 7R, Ruston-14.071; 56. Casey Hicks, 5H, Hicks-14.081; 57. Alex Grigroeas, 1x, LKK-14.084; 58. Jessie Finkenbinder, 3F, Finkenbinder-14.907; 59. David Prickett, 15DJ, Neverlift-NT.

Lunch West Indies 195 for 5 (Brooks 75*, Campbell 55, Hamza 2-59, Rashid 2-74) lead Afghanistan 187 by eight runs

Half-centuries from Shamarh Brooks and John Campbell took West Indies past Afghanistan's first-innings total of 187 in an action-packed first session on the second day of the one-off Test in Lucknow on Thursday.

At lunch, West Indies had moved to 195 for 5, with Brooks unbeaten on 75 and Shane Dowrich giving him company on 25.

On a surface that has aided spinners from day one, West Indies decided the way forward was to attack. The day started with Campbell deploying a variety of sweeps - slog, lap, reverse - to counter the left-arm spin of Amir Hamza as he took 15 from the bowler's second over of the day. He brought up his maiden Test fifty with a single to deep square-leg, courtesy a conventional sweep.

Brooks was more orthodox at the other end but no less attacking. In one Rashid over, he struck two fours and a six as West Indies went past 100. Campbell and he added 82 in just 19.1 overs before Hamza broke the stand with Campbell's wicket for 55, scored in 75 balls. But it was as much Ihsanullah's wicket too, as the slip fielder, upon seeing Campbell line up a lap sweep, moved swiftly to his right and put in the dive to pouch the ball one-handed.

Shimron Hetmyer and Roston Chase didn't last long after that. Hetmyer was trapped lbw by Rashid Khan and Chase fell to left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan, caught at short leg off an inside edge.

At 150 for 5, it looked like Afghanistan had clawed their way back, but their hopes were thwarted by Dowrich. Like other batsmen before him, Dowrich too started in an aggressive manner, hitting three fours in no time to move to 15 off as many balls. But it wasn't that the Afghanistan spinners didn't create any chances. Apart from a couple of loud lbw shouts, Rashid got Brooks to edge one behind but Afsar Zazai failed to latch on.

With lunch approaching, Brooks and Dowrich adopted a more defensive approach and ensured West Indies went into the break without losing further wickets.

Australia's captain Tim Paine insists that it will take an awful lot for him ever to send an opposition side into bat after twice seeing his men struggle against England when he did so at Lord's and The Oval. Perhaps this is just as well, because his talismanic No. 4 Steven Smith becomes a far more human batsman whenever he does not get the chance to bat first.

Smith has long complained of sleeping poorly during a Test match, as his brain goes into visualisation overdrive and he struggles to switch off and then nod off. But there is strong statistical evidence to suggest that Smith's fraught sleep patterns contribute to a deterioration of his performance across the four innings of a Test.

In the first innings of a Test, Smith averages a truly Bradmanesque 93.64 from 39 innings, and has scored 16 of his 26 hundreds there. In the second, this drops to 63.67 from 29 innings with six centuries, and then 51.68 from 36 innings with four centuries in the third. Worst of all is the fourth, where Smith averages just 30.68 from 21 innings and has never reached three figures.

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Put in the context of his lack of sleep across a match, this is unsurprising. Take Smith's admission after the most recent day-night Test at Adelaide Oval, the Ashes Test in late 2017, where England fought back into the game after Smith declined to enforce the follow-on as captain: "I had to have a sleeping pill last night. It has been a pretty tough 24 hours if I'm being honest, it's all part of being captain of your country, you have to make difficult decisions and sometimes you're going to make the wrong decision."

Members of the Australian set-up have recalled how drained and washed out Smith was to look in the aftermath of the Perth Test, where the Ashes were retained later in December. The following March, of course, the Newlands scandal occurred, ruling Smith out of captaincy and sleepless Test match nights for the next 12 months. Before his return to test cricket in England this year, Smith spoke again about his sleeping troubles.

"I am an awful sleeper. In Test matches, I reckon I average 15 to 20 hours throughout the whole five days," Smith told Sky Sports before the Edgbaston Test. "It's all positive stuff - who's bowling at me, where I am going to hit them, how I'm going to play, where I'm going to look to score. I don't very often get many of those negative thoughts. When I do, I shut them out pretty quickly."

More recently, Smith has spoken of the various methods he is using to try to improve his sleep in a game, particularly using a rain sounds app on his phone to simulate the gentle patter of raindrops and help quieten his active mind. For Paine, there is an acknowledgement that Smith's brain is part of what makes him one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever seen, but also an area where, the older and more mature he gets, improvement can still come.

"That is just how he is, but at the same time I know he's working with people at Cricket Australia and elsewhere on trying to find a better night's sleep," Paine said. "It's not a great endorsement for his Koala mattress company, but he's working on trying to get better at that and trying to relax a bit more during games. But he performs in first innings, which all good players want to be able to do when the game's up for grabs, and big first innings runs more often than not will win you Test matches or certainly put you well in front of the game.

"If you asked him would he rather score his runs in the first or the second innings he's going to take the first every day of the week and his record is second to none. He's plugging away at trying to get a better nights' sleep, but I don't think it's an easy fix for someone who's wired the way Steve is."

Something Paine noted about sleeping habits was the fact that fatherhood can provide a great simplifier. "I sleep okay, the bed in Adelaide's a bit soft, but I'm a pretty good sleeper I must admit," he said. "It's changed a bit since I've had children, I'm up a bit earlier these days, so I tend to crash a bit earlier as well."

Sleep or no sleep, Paine has his own issue to address in Adelaide this week - that of backing up after a victory. Two of Australia's six Test wins under his captaincy so far have been followed by defeats in the next match, with the Lord's draw also an uncomfortable result. Only once, against Sri Lanka in January and February, were two wins strung together.

"I wouldn't say we've had a problem with it, I'd say we haven't won a lot of cricket games over the last 18 months," Paine said. "But as I've touched on before Brisbane, now we've got a team together, we're turning up to Test matches expecting to win, whereas in the last 18 months it was probably a bit unsure and I think most teams would be the same had you taken their two best players out.

"Now we've got some consistency around our group, but we were certainly disappointed with the way we played the fifth Test [in England] and one of the things we've spoken about as a group since that is we've called it 'winning after winning', making sure we can back up a performance which we were really happy with last week, but coming to Adelaide now knowing that last week's performance means nothing and we have to be at our best again starting tomorrow afternoon."

A well-rested and relaxed Steven Smith will go a long way towards ensuring Australia start to pile the wins up into a longer sequence, particularly in terms of winning games where they haven't made the perfect start to proceedings.

Umesh Yadav says he knew he would get another shot at the highest level if he kept himself fit and trained hard when he was picked only occasionally across formats over the last two years.

As such, Yadav appears to be out of the race in the white-ball formats for now, and in Tests, he was behind Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami until recently. However, in India's last two home Test series - against South Africa and Bangladesh - he has emerged with the most wickets, the best strike rate and the best average among India's quicks.

"It becomes boring if you sit out and then certain thoughts that you don't want creep into your system," he told PTI. "Why I am not playing? What's happening? It becomes difficult to keep yourself positive, train hard and keep yourself ready.

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"I knew my chance will come if I am fit since there are so many matches in the calendar. You need to wait since pace unit was doing really well."

India's pace arsenal has been lauded across the board, four back-to-back innings victories only raising their stocks - all, crucially, achieved despite Bumrah's injury-enforced absence. Yadav said the workload management of the fast bowlers had increased their longevity.

"All four of us are now at a level where you can't predict which three will play at one point in time," he said. "It's because of healthy competition. I believe it's a great thing that we are being rotated and played, because of which our longevity has increased and we are producing more match-winning performances.

"It is satisfying to know that now we are looked at as bowlers who could bowl all day. When this crop of fast bowlers came together, all five of us decided we are not here to just rough up the ball for spinners. We started thinking wickets"

"Whoever does well will be a part of the team. Important is to grab your chances with both hands as and when you get them. When I see Bumrah, Ishant and Shami, I try to learn from them. The learning never stops."

Separately, speaking to the Times of India, Yadav said he was pleased that India's fast bowlers were not being seen as limited only to bowling only with the new ball or later to rough the ball up for spinners.

"It feels nice when people talk about fast bowlers," he said. "People earlier talked about spinners when we played at home. They assumed the pitch would start taking turn early. Fast bowlers usually bowled with the new ball and were brought back when there was reverse swing on offer.

"Our job was to roughen up the ball for the spinners. Spinners even started with the new ball. It is satisfying to know that now we are looked at as bowlers who could bowl all day. When this crop of fast bowlers came together, all five of us decided we are not here to just rough up the ball for spinners. We started thinking wickets. This ensured we got the new ball."

Yadav has been talked up as a home specialist - his last away Test was in Perth in December 2018 - relying on his swing and reverse swing, not to forget the pace with which he troubles batsmen even if pitches are not very helpful.

"When you start bowling from the same spot, you tend to become predictable," he said. "The batsman knows that this is a bowler who will hit one particular length and they can manage. When you use [the] crease, you start using angles.

"From closer to stumps, the ball comes straight and then moves so the batsman is able to leave the ball. But if delivered from wide off crease, it comes in with the angle and then might straighten or even move away. That is a bigger challenge as impact is on the stumps. So as a fast bowler, if you don't use the crease, you can't create doubts in a batsman's minds that how much will the ball swing and they can commit mistakes."

Familiarity with conditions, of course, have helped.

"Usually the conditions where you play more, you get an idea of those conditions and you start executing plans well," he said. Yes, I agree a perception grows that this particular bowler is good in Indian or may be Asian conditions. But then if you play more in English conditions, you will do well there. Outside subcontinent, I have played very less matches in England, New Zealand and South Africa. The only place where I have played a few Tests is Australia. So may be that has led to this perception since less games means lesser number of wickets."

"While developing a new skill, there is a possibility of you losing something that comes naturally to you. I have seen many bowlers lose their stock outswing delivery trying to develop inswing"

For a while, though he had pace, Yadav was wayward, often spraying the ball around and going for runs, even in Test cricket. "It all depends on the conditions you play in," he said of the change. "I felt the tip of my index finger didn't get behind the seam enough. So when you try to push the ball, it tends to sway towards the leg stump. It also negates the swing. It happens more with the red ball."

Yadav is known to use his outswingers effectively in home conditions and reckons that working on inswingers came with its own risk.

"To develop a new skill needs hard work but there is a flip side to it," he said. "While developing a new skill, there is a possibility of you losing something that comes naturally to you. I have seen many bowlers lose their stock outswing delivery trying to develop inswing.

"So I believe that if I am getting my outswingers right, I should keep working on it. In the process, if I can perfect the delivery that straightens after pitching, nothing like it. So one needs to put in some thought before one does it."

It would appear that Yadav's short-format career is over internationally, or at least that he isn't in the fray if the top choices are fit and in form. But he hasn't given up hope.

"The white-ball season has just started. You can see Bhuvneshwar [Kumar], Shami, Kuldeep [Yadav] are getting back in the team. If I continue to do well, I may also get back in white-ball cricket."

Australia's newest selector George Bailey won't shy away from difficult selection conversations with players he shares close relationships with, including Tasmania team-mates Tim Paine and Matthew Wade.

Bailey won't begin his role alongside Justin Langer and Trevor Hohns until early February and will instead be an unofficial national teams advisor in the interim while he finishes his playing career with Tasmania and the Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL.

Bailey's appointment has been met with universal approval, but as a current player who has played with and against almost every player involved in the national teams he will have some unique issues to manage. He captained a number of the players involved in the current teams at T20I and ODI level and has also played his entire domestic career alongside Test captain Paine, whose international career will almost certainly end during Bailey's time on the panel, although there is no suggestion that would be imminent. He has also played alongside Wade for many years with both Tasmania and Australia.

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"I'm certainly going in with eyes wide open to the fact that there are difficult conversations that will be had," Bailey said. "Those two, in particular, I think it's all just about being honest. It certainly won't be my decision and my decision alone and like any player, you work through those things, hopefully together, but at the appropriate times.

"I feel like I'm a servant to the players and every player, or certainly the majority of the players playing first-class cricket, their dream is to play cricket for Australia. My job is to select the lucky few that get the opportunity to do that.

"But you're also trying to help those that are not quite in the mix, giving them some help and advice as to how you think they can get there and also the guys that have had the opportunity and then find themselves back out of the team, you're trying to help them out to get them back into that team."

Bailey also said he had thick skin as far as any criticism that might be levelled at him in the role.

"Have you seen the way I stand to face up to face a cricket ball?" Bailey said. "I'm happy to cop a little bit of criticism. That won't be any concern. Who should and shouldn't be in the Australian cricket team is always a hot topic of conversation, which is great. There will be a lot of people whose advice I think is important, and there'll be a lot that won't."

Bailey has been named in Tasmania's Sheffield Shield squad to face Queensland in Hobart starting on Friday, and he will also be available for Tasmania's last match before the BBL break against South Australia, but he is adamant he does not want a farewell game if he is not in Tasmania's best XI. He will play in the BBL for the Hurricanes but will retire from all forms at the end of the tournament.

He plans to use his last two months as a player to do some reconnaissance on the role.

"I'll use that time to talk to coaches and players and high performance staff about what that might look like and what players' expectations are, what coaches' expectations are," Bailey said. "My perspective has been one of player for many, many years and I've got some clear thoughts on what that's been like and what players feel like but learning what it looks like from the other side of the fence will be important.

"It seems to be that communication pops up a lot, which I think is one that can be easily fixed or understood. How much players want, how much stakeholders want, coaches, whether there's an expectation that players who aren't necessarily in and around the team still want a little bit more feedback."

He said performances will count for a lot but he shares the same values as Langer as far as character is concerned.

"Runs and wickets are always going to be important, it's a pretty good currency isn't it, if you're scoring them and taking them you're always going to be in the mix but there's so many other things that are important to being part of a team and part of a successful team. Some of those things I think Justin and Tim have been really strong on and Aaron [Finch] in the white-ball teams for Australia have been really strong on. Being a good person, being able to help your mates when you're not doing so well, being able to celebrate others success are also important as well as obviously being able to perform."