'Lillee behind rise of pacers'

Cricketnext.com: Amongst the Indian fast bowlers, who was the best?

TA Sekhar: Kapil was a great swing bowler. He had the art of swinging the ball in all conditions. I consider him as the best bowler in the world during the late 70’s and whole of 80s. He never depended on conducive conditions. He took more than 200 wickets on the sub-continent. I don’t think any other bowler has done so. In my opinion, Kapil is one of the greatest bowlers that the game has ever seen. He troubled the best of batsmen and had he played for a country like Australia, he would have remained the highest wicket-taker in both versions of the game.

Cricketnext.com: How could Kapil remain injury-free?

TA Sekhar: The reason that Kapil was not rested for injury problems in his days was because he is a great athlete. Kapil’s forte was a nice run-up, good leap and a beautiful action. He was also strong on technique. His ball sense was excellent and eye-coordination was brilliant. Kapil is one of the few sportsmen who could have become a world-beater in any discipline be it athletics or football or any other game for that matter. Kapil was not a guy who would dive to take a catch. Even today, people talk about the way he took the catch to dismiss Vivian Richards in the 1983 World Cup final.

Cricketnext.com: Which part of the country do you find fast bowling talents emerging?

TA Sekhar: These days we get fast bowling talents even from areas which do not have a legacy of cricket, states like Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. Basically, boys pick up fast bowling watching matches on television channels. One of our trainees, Varun Arun, is only 16 and really quick. We don’t know how tall he will grow and how strong and what pace he will be able to bowl at. Baroda is another place from where we have seen good fast bowlers in the recent past.

Cricketnext.com: To what do you attribute to the growth of interest in pace bowling?

TA Sekhar: Quality coaching is one of the main reasons. Another reason is that the boys in schools are encouraged to play other games also. This helps the boys to possess all round abilities. There also many private gymnasiums that help develop their physical fitness.

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