Walsh: Why insult when you can injure with a ball?
Walsh reveals he did not need to hurl abuse because he was dangerous with the ball
Bangladesh's bowling coach and the current interim coach of the Tigers for the upcoming Nidahas Trophy series was a fearsome bowler in his playing days and he reveals that he did not need to hurl abuse at his opposition since he could just use the ball to get his point across.
Walsh was from a time where fast bowlers were greatly feared and during his lecture today at Kolkata for the Tiger Pataudi Memorial Lecture, the great West Indian gave a few accounts from his playing days.
"You know that my home ground of Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, is surrounded by hospitals, 10 probably 15 hospitals, and on weekends they would be full of players we'd send there... a nose broken, a finger chipped, a bleeding mouth... we played hard, that's what we did at Sabina Park, that's why so many hospitals.... Once we had the Leeward Islands team led by Viv Richards for a game, before lunch five or six of them were down at the hospitals...
"Why insult with abuse when you can injure with a ball?" Walsh revealed.
Walsh also admitted to the fact that he handled matches professionally and if blood was spilled on the field of play, it was not intentional. In 1994, he hit India's Manoj Prabhakar during the third Test against India at Mohali. Prabhakar ended up with a broken nose.
"A few fellows, not too many," Walsh said with a nod. "Nothing intentional about that aggression, it was just part of the job.," Walsh attested to causing injury that led to blood being spilt.
Walsh will be hoping that some of the young guns in the Tigers' lineup can learn about that professionalism and aggresion and apply them with a positive mindset.