Bangladesh spin consultant Daniel Vettori believes that the left-arm spinner Taijul Islam can improve his game further by adding the top-spinner to his repertoire. The former New Zealand captain also noted that Taijul has the potential to do well in alien conditions away from home.
Incidentally, Taijul has praised Vettori for motivating him to also focus on white-ball cricket. The left-arm spinner has also earned an all-format contract. ''(With) regard to bowling in different parts of the world... wickets that don't spin in countries like New Zealand, Australia and in England, there's a real emphasis on the ability to get the ball to drift and then you have to bowl with a bit more of top-spin,'' Vettori told Cricbuzz.
''In some of the subcontinent countries, where the ball spins off the wicket, even then the drift is important. You know the great spinners from the subcontinent had that. But they also spun the ball a lot, and I think that is because of the wicket and the skill they have of bowling side-spin. I think side-spin is something that probably you don't learn growing up and had to develop it. I think it's the same for someone like Taijul.
We talked a lot about him being able to bowl top-spin, because if he can do that, then every ball is easier for him to go to. He has relied on that side-spin a lot, leaving the wickets to do the work in the past. The stuff we are working on now with him is to be able to bowl that top-spin," he added.
Vettori, who replaced Sunil Joshi as the spin consultant, after inking a 100-day deal with BCB, said that he doesn't see much of a problem as far as the language barrier is concerned. He observed that "spinners have a common language". In fact, during Courtney Walsh's stint as the bowling coach, the language barrier issue was raised by BCB's insiders.
''In terms of knowing subcontinent from previous coaching experiences and playing over the years, I think spinners have a common language and so it is easy to talk.
The common language makes it easy to talk to spinners and you can break a lot of language barriers purely from the fact that you can talk about, or I can talk about my experiences. So, I think that is what gives you the opening and understanding, and then obviously you got to offer a little bit of knowledge and a little bit of help for players to respond to you," he said.
Vettori also revealed that he took up the role as there was an opportunity to work with the spinners. Previously, he had worked as the head coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Brisbane Heat.
''I took up the job mainly because I wanted a chance to work individually with spinners. And I think with my previous roles, I was responsible for the whole team, and often I felt that I have neglected the spinners. And that's what I wanted to do. Plus the fact that I thought the spinners that I have seen from Bangladesh were very good.
"Taijul... seen a little bit of Naeem and I could see some real skills there. And then speaking to the rest of the management team... Russell Domingo talking about the wrist group [wrist spinners] like Biplob coming through and he was really excited about the spinning group.
Bangladesh have such a history of left-arm spinners and in particular spinners doing such a good job. So, I have high hopes with them and I think they are a really talented bunch, and hopefully when we get back to cricket and we can only see them improve."
There is a high possibility that BCB might renew his contract. Vettori left the national team in the midst of the ODI series against Zimbabwe in March. When contacted, BCB's officials insisted that they would look to utilize Vettori's experience to the maximum extent. Incidentally, Vettori has also been working with the upcoming spinners of Bangladesh.