In his playing days, Greg Shipperd used to be a stubborn batsman who would occupy the crease for hours, scoring patiently. To put it in his own words, his batting style was about “hanging around and not getting out”. “A sixer for me would be if I’m able to cross the 30-yard circle,” the Australian laughs, when asked how he would’ve played Twenty20.

Shipperd is now the head coach of IPL2’s most successful team so far, Delhi Daredevils, who also boast of some of the biggest hitters, but the 52-year-old doesn’t find it ironic.

“You have to go with the flow; there is change in the game of cricket and if I have played like that, it doesn’t necessarily mean I still think or coach in the same manner. It’s not necessary that as a coach you teach how you have played yourself. It’s about adapting to the demands and coaching is a fresh phase of life,” he says.

‘Big challenge’

He does admit that coaching a Twenty20 side is a big challenge, especially when it comes to handling instinctive batsmen. “I have observed that the T20 format is a game of instinct. While it requires the fundamentals to be strong, there’s a need to give them the freedom to play instinctive cricket as well. I don’t think with a player like Virender Sehwag, I would have had quite an impact but with someone like David Warner, who’s young and needs a bit of polishing, or Gautam Gambhir, who is a technically sound batsman, it helps,” he says.

... contd.