Koththigoda’s bowling action was not molded to be like Adams – Coach
Sri Lanka’s new mystery spinner Kevin Koththigoda’s bowling action is quite similar to South Africa’s slow-left arm chinaman bowler Paul Adams’ action but it was not molded to be like Adams, insisted his Coach Piyal Salgado.
Koththigoda was initially nurtured by former Sri Lanka ‘A’ Team opener Dhammika Sudarshana at Richmond College, which has produced several Test cricketers in the past.
But it was Salgado who coached him at Mahinda College, the rivals of Richmond.
“Yes, he is very similar to Paul Adams and when I saw him first I thought that because of his unique and unorthodox action he could be a challenge to the batsman,” Salgado revealed yesterday.
“Of course he had not seen Adams before. The challenge in bowling with such an action was being consistent. He was more focused on turning the ball a lot. Thus he was erratic.”
“I made him to increase his accuracy by getting him to do lot of spot bowling. Thereafter when he regained his accuracy he was too slow off the air. I had to improve that aspect. I worked on that as well.”
“Kevin’s action is also natural to him and it was not molded to be like Paul Adams”.
“Kevin was a committed boy. I had to just guide him and he was willing to work hard. He needed confidence and I told him because of his unique action that he could be special,” the coach signed off.