It’s a pleasure working with Rahul Dravid, says Pravin Amre

Pravin Amre has been a successful coach in domestic cricket, having guided Mumbai to Ranji Trophy titles with his shrewd cricketing brain. He keeps learning on a daily basis.

Being a senior player to Rahul Dravid, Amre is still learning the tricks of the trade from the former India captain during his stint at Delhi Daredevils as their batting coach.

“It’s a pleasure working with him (Dravid),” Amre said here on the eve of the Delhi Daredevils vs Rising Pune Supergiants here. “The way he handles the team, especially the young brigade, is amazing. The way he gives them confidence is also a learning for me. For the position we are in right now, a lot of credit has to be given to him.”

The Daredevils are on 12 points with three games to go. South African Quinton de Kock has been their leading run-scorer and Amre said that the wicketkeeper-batsman has assumed the role of a senior player responsibly.

“Quinton de Kock is the one who we wanted runs from and, the way he played against RCB was amazing, 100 in 50 balls. The team needed him and he delivered. Even in the last two games, he's getting 40-odd and he's the major scorer in Power Play. If we are scoring 45-50, he's the one scoring 30 to 35 runs. I believe that he is enjoying his responsibility. We have a young team and a senior has to take that responsibility. I think Quinton is doing that job for us and maybe that is the reason he's the highest run-getter for us till now.”

Daredevils have stuck to horses to courses this season and Amre said that they will stick to that against RPS also. “This year, our main strategy has been horses for courses. The way we pick the team is according to the opponent and according to the wicket. So we'll see the wicket first and then also study the opponent, what their strengths are, how many left-handers they've got. It depends on their strength and they we'll decide on our final eleven.  But right now we can't say anything about what (combination) we're going to play on Tuesday.”

With DD needing to win two of their remaining three games to make it to the Playoffs, facing a team that is struggling for a win may be welcoming. But Amre and DD are not taking anyone for granted. He stressed that DD have beaten even stronger opponents comfortably

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“Yesterday (Sunday) was a bad day in the office. Right now in our current position, we have already beaten the teams above us, beaten the strong teams. I think that's going to give us more confidence. We're not worried about anything and we're not taking anything lightly, for tomorrow's game also. We know why we’ve beaten strong teams. We’ve played good cricket, smart cricket and we have a lot of match-winners. Till now we've got seven Man of the Match awards, in that Chris (Morris) got the award twice. But we've also had different heroes in the other games to win the match for us. We are hoping that we will bounce back strongly tomorrow, it is a very crucial game for us. We lost the last game, Pune also lost the last game, so there's the same pressure on both teams. We have to play tomorrow like we have against the strong teams.”

The 47-year-old Amre has groomed youngsters well in his coaching careers. He lets the youngsters be their usual self rather than act like a school teacher. “This format allows us as a coach to be open. This format is not like you go there and remain disciplined – yes you have to be disciplined when you play your cricket at any format – but this format demands more freedom. Whenever they need help, we should be there. We know that they are going to play 40-50 balls, they should have more freedom to play.

“The way Rishabh (Pant) is playing right now is a fine example. The way he played against Sunrisers [Hyderabad], he expressed himself and finished the match for us. That's what any youngster would like to do. When they play their first IPL season, there are lot of nerves, lot of expectations, it's a big platform and everyone are watching. It's very important to be relaxed when they go in as well as when they are off the field.

“We keep it very simple. In the nets we do not give too many instructions. We allow them to grow (naturally). If they've got any problems then we're there to help them. But if they are doing well, we're not going to interrupt them. Allowing them to grow is the main thing.”

Amre also credited Krunal Pandya for his match-winning for Mumbai Indians against DD. “Every game in the IPL is a learning experience and last game (against Mumbai Indians) was a learning experience for us. It's important to bowl in the right areas. I think last game we have to give credit to Krunal Pandya for the way he batted. It's not easy getting 86 runs in 37 balls, maintaining a 200+ strike-rate. He played against a quality attack. We have to give the credit to the way he backed himself. He was given the role to go after the spinners and he did that. That's the area where if we had got two wickets then in this game 160-odd would have been a par score. But we have to give the credit to Krunal Pandya for the way he batted yesterday,” the former India batsman said.