‘Easier being spin bowling all-rounder than pace in India, due to pitches and climate’ – Former Kiwi coach Gary Stead, now coaching Andhra

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India had never been whitewashed 3-0. When did you, in that New Zealand dressing room, start to believe that it is happening for real?

When you come to India, and if we had won even one Test out of three, then we probably would have considered it a successful tour, given the history we have had in this country in the past. But then I guess we played very, very good cricket in the second and third Tests. And that just kept growing the belief of the team. Even right up until that last day, both teams could have won. And our belief shone through in the end.

New Zealand has been a bit of a bogey team for India in ICC events (2019 World Cup semifinal and 2021 WTC final). What conversations were you having before games when you were about to play India?

In India, with passion of crowd comes the pressure on them. So we always felt that the longer we could hang in the game against the Indian team, the better chance we had of getting the success we wanted at the end of it. But no special plans, really, other than that.

You worked in New Zealand and are about to work here. What are the major differences you see?

Obviously, population-wise, New Zealand has only 6 first-class teams and 32 here. So it’s obviously a lot easier in New Zealand to get noticed just simply because of the population and numbers. There are so many wonderful cricketers in India, and probably a lot that don’t get an opportunity either. That’s the key difference that I see. At the end of the day, you start the game, and cricket is cricket. You just have to use your resources as best as you can and try and play the best cricket you can. We’re excited and looking forward to what’s ahead against UP (Uttar Pradesh).

Stead attributes India’s lack of pace-bowling all-rounders behind Andhra’s Nitish Kumar Reddy to the climate and conditions across the country. (BCCI)

What has inspired you to take up the Andhra coaching job?

Look, it’s something very different. I’ve coached in New Zealand or with New Zealand teams my whole life. I thought here’s an opportunity for me to push outside my comfort zone. I’ve always loved cricket in India. I love the way it’s played in India on the different surfaces as well. And really enjoy the long format of the game.

So Ranji Trophy is a nice fit for me. There’s a feeling that the Andhra team hasn’t achieved as well as it might have, considering some of the potential here. I would like to help them grow that potential and hopefully put some more winning performances on the board. Andhra is a big state. I know it’s a very proud state as well.

And at some stage, they’ve got to win the Ranji Trophy. And why not do it sooner rather than later, and make some big, bold plans and work towards them?

Andhra is yet to win a Ranji title. What are your plans for the season coming up? What will be a good season, according to you?

Yeah, I’m still learning a lot about it. I mean, tomorrow (against Uttar Pradesh), when we start, will be the first time I see them actually in the Ranji Trophy as well. So until then, it’s pretty hard for me to comment on it. But we want to try and play winning cricket. I guess the style of cricket that gives you the best chance of winning games as well.

And sometimes that takes courage to go out there and achieve that. But I guess my job as a coach would be to try and lift a lot of the things that are holding the players back and give them the freedom to go and play really good cricket.

There’s a lot of potential here. We’ve got a nice mix of a bowling group that has left-armers, right-armers, off-spin, a little bit of leg-spin, and left-arm-spin as well. So we’re well covered with bowling stocks and variety in our bowling team.

And then even in the batting, there’s a nice mix of some older, experienced players, but also some young ones coming through who have a lot of potential in the game.

In international cricket, it is said it is more about man-management than technical, but how does your role differ? Will you put more emphasis on managing people or tinkering with player techniques at Andhra?

Coaching is, the majority is around man-management and learning about the players, learning what their strengths and weaknesses are and then learning how you unlock the potential of the players as well. And that’s certainly the key thing I’ll be looking to do.

As I mentioned, sometimes things can weigh heavily on your mind, and past performance doesn’t actually matter now. It’s about what we do tomorrow, when we start the game. So we are certainly looking to go there and play nicely and positively.

Language barrier can be an issue when communicating with local players. How are you willing to address that?

You just sit down and talk with them and make sure that my message is clear to the players as well. But on the whole, we’ve been pretty good. The staff around me have really helped me with that as well. They’ve been great, and we share a vision that I have for this team of trying to raise the expectations around our performance.

India does not have too many fast-bowling all-rounders. Andhra has one of them in Nitish Kumar Reddy. What are your expectations for him in the season coming up?

It’s tough being a pace bowler in India with a lot of the wickets that you see. So, it’s probably easier being a spin bowling all-rounder in many ways. Look at the likes of (Ravindra) Jadeja and Washington (Sundar) and people like that.

It’s probably an easier craft to have. It’s also a little bit to do with the climate, and the clay and the pitches you play on are more conducive to not so much having the pace all-rounders. But there are obviously good ones around, and Nitish Kumar Reddy is one who’s 100/100. We’re excited for him at the moment to be given that opportunity in Tests.