ILT20: My Job is to Bring The Best Out of Players, Says MI Emirates Head Coach Shane Bond

Revealing his philosophy of coaching, former New Zealand pacer and MI Emirates head coach Shane Bond said that he always tries to bring the best out of his players and tries to get honest feedback about his style of work.

MI Emirates will next face Gulf Giants on Wednesday in the ongoing ILT20 and they will look to take the positives from their last game, where they recorded a brilliant 157-run win over Desert Vipers on Sunday.

Appreciating the effort of the boys, MI Emirates head coach said they need to play with the same amount of consistency in the remaining three games to stay in the hunt for the title race.

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“It was a great performance against Desert Vipers, and especially from the start of the tournament I have been mentioning that the team is capable of winning the tournament. We just need to turn up the heat, and win the big moments, make some good decisions and execute them,” Bond said in a media release.

“We played the top team, put in our best performance, and we are playing the team second on the competition list next, and then if we win that game, we are decently in for a top-2 finish,” he added.

Elaborating on his philosophy of coaching, the 47-year-old Kiwi said he always tries to bring the best out of his players.

“My job is always to bring the best out of the players, to be consistent and get better in each game. Those things never change, and have remained the same from Day 1.

In terms of the players, the hardest thing for them is to get honest feedback. It can be tough for a coach, so, the only way to get better as a coach is to go to the players during any competition and get the conversation started on what I can do to get better,” he said.

Heaping praises on MI Emirates skipper Kieron Pollard, who has been in red-hot form with the bat throughout the tournament, Bond said the best part about having someone like Pollard as the leader of the side is he also understands the role of a coach as the Trinidadian is on a transition phase.

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“Playing and coaching are very different. The playing career behind you gives you a level of respect from the younger players of the kind of player you have been but as a coach my job is to make my player better,” the coach said.

“It’s no more about me but about how you get the best out of your player. You have Dwayne (Bravo) and (Kieron) Pollard, who are in the phase of transition and they understand their roles clearly. Polly has played a massive part in the team’s success,” he added.

The 47-year old is also happy to see the talent pool in associate nations is growing, thanks to such T20 leagues, and as a result the associate nations have been able to create major upsets at the World Cup.

“This tournament is great with the Associate and local players getting to play a part in it. Being part of the squads, so you are getting to build the depth of those small nations,” Bond said.

“We have got four very good players who have been well in franchise cricket. Muhammed Waseem is a very good player, Zahoor Khan, who’s been a mainstay of the UAE national team, and he is bowling well for us. We’re lucky to have Robin Singh, who works with the UAE team, and has that relationship that makes it easier for us.

It’s great for them to get the opportunity to bat alongside a Kieron Pollard or a Nicholas Pooran, or open the bowling with a Trent Boult,” he concluded.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)