The excerpts:

How will Bumrah’s absence impact India?

Certainly, India are going to miss Bumrah badly. He is a bowler of rare quality and batters around the world always find it difficult to read him. For me, he is the best bowler in the world in Tests and with the white ball. There would be a big psychological impact on India. The best thing is that we didn’t lose him during the tournament, it would have been a much bigger blow. Bumrah has the ability to break partnerships and run through a side at any moment of the game. That is what India would miss at the World Cup.

What’s your take on his replacement Shami?

Shami is the best choice, and with the new ball he is going to create problems for all batters. Having played in Australia in the past, he would be very useful even in the death overs. He has been playing IPL for 7-8 years and doing well consistently. He had a good IPL this May and he knows what length to bowl in Australia. We have Shardul in the side, but he is a good middle-over and death bowler, not with the new ball. In Australia, if you are going to bowl with new ball in the Powerplay, you need to get wickets; otherwise it would be difficult for a bowler to handle things.

There is lot of concern about India’s death bowling, especially after the Asia Cup loss.

A bowler has to be smart enough to make use of variations. Cricket is loaded with batters and you can’t enjoy domination by having just raw pace. A bowler can’t afford to bowl too many bad balls as you put pressure on the other bowlers. In the 19th over of three matches recently, Bhuvneshwar Kumar wasn’t up to the mark and the one who bowled the last over was under tremendous pressure.

What should be the mindset of the bowler in the death overs?

Our death-over bowlers must practice the strategy at the nets. They should create a scene only for the 19th over and the bowler should challenge batters like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and even for Hardik Pandya. If you keep them down, only then would you be able to tackle the pressure in a match situation. Bowling in the nets for hours without a plan is pointless.

What are India’s chances of winning the World Cup?

It's going to be a tough task. Our batting must click at a time when our bowling is weak. We should stick to our plans and basics. We shouldn’t try anything new that we have not practiced. We should plan well as to who would be the bowlers in the death overs. Pakistan are playing really well as they have good fast bowlers as well as smart all-rounders. Skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have the ability to hit any bowler; even a mystery spinner doesn’t make a difference to them. Australia and England are two other good sides.

How do you see Hardik Pandya’s role?

Pandya is crucial for India and is going to make a big impact in Australia. To me, after Kapil Dev, an all-rounder like Pandya has been one who can win it with batting and bowling. He was tremendous in IPL and has consistently done well. He is getting more confident, he is now a matured cricketer. For him, the size of the ground doesn’t matter. I find him a complete package. I see him as India captain in one or two years.

Your take on Suryakumar Yadav.

Surya has been the Indian AB de Villiers, who can play shots 360 degrees. He is a great asset to Indian cricket. When we signed him for Mumbai Indians in 2011, we sent him to open the innings to boost his confidence. There were just two fielders outside the circle in the Powerplay and we made good use of his batting style. With 500-odd runs in each of the first two seasons, he gained confidence. He is one of those rare batters who can change the complex of the game from any point. Even if India are 0/3, he won’t mind hitting the ball anywhere. He has the ability to change his shot at the last moment, and being a sharp reader of the bowler’s mind, he hits with perfection.