We are happy for the big teams to take all the pressure: Monank Patel

Captaining the American cricket team can be a throne of thorns with all the dynamics thrown in: the diversity cutting across nationalities, the race and the usual off the field impasse with their cricket board over the years.

USA captain Monank Patel spoke to Cricbuzz about his experience at American cricket's top job, the four-year long travails of the World Cup League 2 and his team's chances of booking a berth in the 50-over World Cup in India.

Excerpts...

After the rigour of 4 years and 41 ODIs, you face the final hurdle before the big ticket to India. How do you look back at your journey? You had your share of highs and heartbreaks, after all the toil and sweat, numerous back-to-back ODIs in 40 degrees. How satisfying is it for you to be standing where you are today?

It has been an interesting one, parabolic at times with the pandemic sandwiched in between. We have had 3 different head coaches, so we had to make a lot of adjustments, but the core of our squad largely remained intact. That consistency has reaped benefits. For instance, I have had a lot of 100-run partnerships with Aaron Jones over the years which allows us to understand each others' games well and not hesitate to be in each other's ears during play. We were completely down and out in PNG and came back with one point in 3 games but won 4 out of 5 in Namibia to land here. So that really showed the character the team possesses.

On a personal front yes, have been fortunate to deliver on occasions when the team needed the most. We were completely routed in Nepal in one tour but then working on your weaknesses and reaping fruits out of it by beating them in the next encounters is what made the World Cup League 2 journey fulfilling and sweet.

You speak about that tour in Nepal just before the pandemic where you went winless and were also bowled out for 35. You notched your first hundred the next time you met Nepal and seem to be a completely different batter with evident changes in your batting technique and approach. Help us understand the story behind that transformation.

Yeah those were tough conditions out there. I think I barely managed to score 30 in 4 innings. We had a long spell out of cricket after the series due to the pandemic. I went back to India to the place I grew up in, in the surroundings where I learnt my cricket. I can't sit and sulk. That's just not me. If I am failing I need to do something about it. I met our new USA head coach J Arun Kumar around that time and he challenged me the way I was never before. Just after looking at me in the nets, he asked me astonishingly why is your average barely 25 in ODIs at that point. He probably saw something in me and carved out a batting plan for me based on percentage cricket. And yes I got that hundred the next time we met Nepal.

Last year in October, MLC sent me to a private coaching clinic with Praveen Amre in Mumbai. I had a few of my technical flaws corrected there as well. Amre advised me to make major changes to my stance and trigger movements. Which is a huge call for any batsman. But nonetheless I batted more than 1000 balls with one hand to build the muscle memory for me to implement it in games. It has completely changed my front foot game after that. And after a certain experience you are the best judge of your own batting. I now look to give myself 70-80 balls per innings and as an attacking player if I do that, I know I will take my team home almost always.

You mentioned about the way you bounced back in Namibia winning 4 out 5 games In the World Cup Qualifier playoff after an arduous and winless PNG tour. USA hardly put a foot wrong in Namibia. Along with the change in team management, was there also a case of change in mindset and approach? Every game USA seemed to find new players stepping up to the occasion and finishing games for the team.

Sometimes as a leader, you have to have your team take a strong stern look in the mirror. We reminded ourselves that if we fail to make it past the next stage there is literally no cricket scheduled for the rest of the year and of course that also meant having no contracts in hand at all for the foreseeable future after that. Players knew they had to take ownership of their cricketing future. We were also gutted to lose out on points by not closing out easy finishes earlier in the tournament. They were ready to set the record straight and wrap up the games this time around without loose ends.

19 year old Sai Teja Mukkamalla was thrusted upon the No. 3 duties and he delivered for you with a match-winning century in a tense chase against UAE in the Qualifier PlayOff tournament. You had technically given up your spot for him. That would've been a tough call. How did you conjecture such a move?

Sai is blessed with maturity and skill way beyond his age. Both of us are from New Jersey so I have had exposure to his game. We were also at the same coaching clinic in Mumbai with Praveen Amre I just mentioned about. We were flatmates for 3 weeks and I saw the hunger to get better in him. There was a massive difference between his batting before and after the camp. Sai had this issue of consuming dot balls during the initial phase. Amre had him correct it. To speeden up the process apart from getting thousands of throw-downs in the nets, he would also practice drills for singles and low-risk attacking shots over and over. After those 3 weeks, his intent, balance and confidence were out of ordinary. And yes, we had the big partnership too when he got his hundred. I asked him to wait for me to come to bat and we would put the run chase to bed (laughs).

This is a momentous occasion for USA as a team with the chance of facing top full members like West Indies and Sri Lanka. The prospect of facing such fancied teams can be a bit unsettling in the leadup to the tournament. Sometimes teams are just happy to be there. How do you look at this preposition?

We know we will squaring up with them as underdogs. We are okay with it. We are happy for them to take the pressure. We are proud and deserving to be here. We are not thinking too far ahead. One game at a time. We are well prepared and confident. We are here for a purpose and have a process that reflects right from the nets to the ground. We are focused on the culture and process that has landed us here after the long journey of 4 years.

How big of a miss will Ali Khan be given he is out with a suspension?

Ali Khan's is a huge loss for the team. We all know he is infectious on the field. What he does on the field sends out direct signals to the opposing camp. It is his second nature to try to get under the skin of any new batsman to get him under pressure. Even off the field his room door is always open even while being asleep, he is excellent with youngsters. He doesn't play all the games but his dedication to the team remains the same. Against Jersey as well where he bowled that spell from hell, he was itching to go out and give a mighty riposte with the ball while our batsmen were being abused. He is a thorough team man.