Ajinkya Rahane and the cone artist

The hallmark of a good coach is to respond concisely to his ward's changing needs. In that respect, Pravin Amre is a cut above the rest. You may struggle to find a more complete, composed batting coach in the country. Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik and Naman Ojha are some of the top players who train under the 46-year-old's watchful eyes all year long.

Rahane is Amre's most special student. Understandably so. They have known each other since the former's days in junior cricket and, over the years, that bond has only gotten stronger. Prior to the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh last year, Amre adopted a few baseball techniques to improve Rahane's hitting prowess in the slam-bang version of the game. He emphasised that the right-hander put his "core" (abdomen and back muscles) to good use in order to give the ball a good whack. The ploy yielded modest results, but that didn't stop Amre, or Rahane, from experimenting further.

As Rahane prepares to a lead a bunch of 'past masters' and hopefuls for a short tour of Zimbabwe, Amre has turned his focus to the art of cognitive training or 'brain fitness'. The Oxford dictionary defines cognition as "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses".

In the past few days, Amre has put Rahane through an innovative cognition technique to improve his ward's "alertness" and "presence of mind". Why? Because this series is a little different from the many Rahane has featured in. "This time, he is the captain," Amre says.

So what's the technique all about?
At the state-of-the-art indoor facility in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Amre places six cones of different colours at various positions like gully, point, cover, extra cover, and mid-off. Ditto on the leg side. After giving a throw down, Amre yells out the colour of the cone he wants Rahane to target. Immediately after Rahane executes the shot, Amre instructs Rahane to "run and touch" another cone (of another colour) on the leg side. The process continues for 40 minutes before Amre changes the positioning of the cones on either side of the wicket.

"So there are red, green, yellow, orange, blue and white cones on both sides. The idea is to give Ajju very little reaction time. The process has helped me help him understand the art of using his brain to form an image of the placement of the different cones. This enables him to make an instant decision of directing the ball towards, say, the white cone on the off side, immediately running towards the yellow cone on the leg side and returning to the crease to do it all over again," Amre says.

How did he develop this technique? Amre doesn't go into the details, but reveals that it's widely used in football. "It's a variation," says the man who doesn't hesitate to combine "biomechanics with psychology" to help a player "reach the next level in his career". An avid reader of coaching techniques, Amre also loves watching "intense videos" of world-class professionals redefine the art of coaching in sport.

"For us, every tour is important. It's a new challenge. This time, Ajju has to make sure that he doesn't mix the two things (batting and captaincy). When he bats, he has to bat. When he is defending a target, he has to lead and field well. But none of his duties should burden him. The cognitive training we are doing is intended to help his brain become sharper," Amre explains.

According to Amre, Rahane isn't a "natural" in the strong sense of the word. "Getting into the Indian team was a challenge in itself. Warming the bench for 15 Test matches wasn't easy either. If you remember, he didn't have a sensational debut. This (captaincy) is a new challenge and I am preparing him for it," Amre says. "Look, everybody dreams of becoming the captain of India. But we must understand that he didn't go after it (captaincy). It came to him. And he is ready for it," Amre adds.

Rahane will captain a squad comprising Harbhajan Singh, Murali Vijay, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Stuart Binny, Robin Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey and Axar Patel among others. "There are quite a few established players in the mix. Some others are trying to make a comeback. It won't be easy. Captaincy is never easy, especially in your debut series as the leader of the pack. But I tell Ajju that it's like a Lexus car. Give it your best," Amre says.

Rahane, whose only significant tryst with captaincy came at the Under-19 level for Mumbai, isn't a "born leader" according to Amre. "Look, he has some good qualities. He is calm, composed, responsible. He displays controlled aggression and that's why the selectors have backed him," Amre reasons.

Amre says that Rahane believes he has "earned" this opportunity. It's been barely two weeks since MS Dhoni complained that Rahane was slow on slower surfaces. Did the criticism affect his confidence? "Look, he has been India's best batsman on overseas tours in the last couple of years. He proved himself everywhere. That said, he knows there is room for improvement. And he is working towards it. It's been a while since I saw him react to criticism. He doesn't take anything to heart. He loves to keep working, keep improving. You may have noticed how he has become a specialist batsman in every format. This wasn't the case a few years ago," Amre says.

Whatever be the case, Rahane makes sure he visits his favourite deity at the iconic Siddhivinayak Temple. "Values are very important," Amre says. "He knows he can't forget his roots. He loves his family, respects his elders and friends. The fire in his belly keeps him going. Look, he has seen more tough times than happy times. That, in many ways, has contributed to what he is today."