"Indian bowlers were not bad, but they lacked discipline on their last tour to Australia. Their concentration dropped off which made it very hard. If you can't bowl 5-6 balls where you want in an over, you will be punished," said Thomson at his first media conference after taking charge of the Mumbai Cricket Association-IDBI Federal Life Insurance Bowling Foundation today.
India lost the four-match Test series 0-2 after slumping to defeats in the first two matches - at Adelaide and Brisbane - while drawing the other two games held at Melbourne and Sydney.
"I (Ishant) think he lacked a bit of discipline. He bowled a lot of deliveries down the leg side. Eight years ago I thought he will be a world beater, but he lost the plot somewhere. He has got very good skills, but needs a rocket....I hope you understand what I am saying," he said to peals of laughter.
The 64-year-old Queenslander, who has been contracted for the project for two years and will spend the next month here guiding a group of 30 Mumbai bowlers - a lot of them between 19-23 years of age - said that the more one bowls the more skillful he becomes.
"I hated gym work as I had done a lot of physical work chasing pigs before my entry into international cricket. There's no replacement for actual bowling. I bowled a lot of balls in my time. There's only one way to improve skills as a bowler - by bowling balls," he said in reply to a query on modern day fast bowlers indulging in a lot of work-outs in gymnasium.