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Experienced players being pushed out too soon: Tait
Former Australia pacer Shaun Tait feels that seasoned players like Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden, Jason Gillespie shouldn't have hurried retired which would have enabled a smooth transition for the next generation.
"I feel the likes of Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne, Michael Kasprowicz and Mathew Hayden were the players from whom the younger lot could learn and I feel they should have hung for more time," Tait said during an interaction with the media.
"I am not sure but there have been some changes in Australian cricket and at the domestic level too. The youngsters, when inducted into the team learn from their seasoned teammates," he said.
'Not in the hands of players'
When asked whether the IPL was losing its global character in wake of the decision of pulling out Sri Lankan players out of Chennai and the few England players being barred by their respective counties, Shaun Tait called it a "shame".
"It is not in the hands of players. They have to abide with what the authorities say. The IPL would not lose its global character but it is a shame that players have to face such situation.
"It is the decision taken by others. At the end of the day, IPL is an Indian tournament but a very good one," he said.
Questioned on where the Royals' campaign went haywire last year, he replied, "We were not up to the mark in the death overs in the previous season.
"I enjoy bowling at the death but your plans work out at times and sometimes, they don't. I would again enjoy bowling at death."
'Don't want to cut down on my pace'
Tait has often been labelled as someone who has pace but is evry erratic.
The bowler assured that he is working on that aspect of his game. "I know I was erratic at times but have worked on this. My foot was popping out of the bowling crease but recently I had improved in the Big Bash and Bangladesh Premier league.
"It's ok as of now. I plan to bowl a lot straighter and keep things simple."
Despite his international career being curtailed by injuries, Tait doesn't want to compromise on pace. "I have been plagued with injuries in my career but still don't want to cut down on my pace.
"I have not played one dayers for quite some time to reduce workload and concentrate on T20 only. To avoid more injuries, I work out a lot. But still I want to bowl around 150 kmph as cutting down on pace would be too difficult," said the Aussie quick.
Not a bad season
Asked about the previous season, Tait said, "The previous season for Rajasthan Royals was not that bad. We had fought hard till the end but had lost a couple of matches which we should have won.
"We hope for a top-4 finish this time. We have worked on a few grey areas like death bowling and have few more options in attack.
"The likes of James Faulkner would lend us more bowling strength. We have good relationship and we mix up well and help each other," said Tait.