A day before the first Test between India and England in Rajkot, Mark Ramprakash was giving throw-downs to debutant, then 19-year-old Haseeb Hameed in a separate net for a good half-an-hour. He was making the youngster comfortable with his drives and defence, engaging in communication in between deliveries.

Personal one-to-one communication is what Ramprakash believes in as the England and Wales Cricket Board batting coach. This was something that he missed out as a No. 5 or 6 batsman for England between 1991 and 2002.

Ramprakash, run accumulator in England county cricket for Middlesex and Surrey, could not enjoy the same success in the 52 Tests that he played. Something that teenage-prodigy Graeme Hick also went through.

The first of Ramprakash's only two Test centuries — a majestic 154 in Barbados — came after 22 Tests and 37 innings. A stylish batsman born to Indo-Guyanese father and English mother, the 47-year-old Ramprakash ought to have got more than 2,350 Test runs, averaged more than 27.34 – nearly half his first-class average of 53.14 with 114 tons.

"In my days as a player, I didn't feel I had much communication with the coaches," Ramprakash, who has joined the England U-19 team after his duty with the senior team, told DNA in an interaction on Friday.

"It is a two-way relationship. The players must give, the coaches must give. (Now) I only try to build friendly relationship with the players where they can feel more open and confident about talking to a coach. When I look back at my playing career, I never really felt that two-way relationship was ever established with any coach."

Trying to recollect what went wrong with his Test career, Ramprakash said: "Greame Hick and I were similar in that we never really settled as part of the (England) team. In county cricket, we knew we were in the team, felt relaxed and were enjoying playing cricket for our respective counties.

"International cricket was different. A lot more profile, all the TV cameras, big crowds, there's a lot more that goes at the international stage. If things don't go well early, it can be quite a difficult place to succeed.

"What happens is if you don't have a good start, it can be very difficult in terms of your belief as a player. A lot of players come to international cricket and don't succeed early on, it is a real test to come back from that. Belief is so important in international sport and going in and out of the team is very difficult because, when you get re-selected, the pressure increases.

"Although I got hundreds against the West Indies and Australia, I did not do as well as I would have liked. I remember playing in Test matches that were very low scoring in England. Sometimes the pitch conditions were very difficult for batting and you have to take that into account.

"We played some two-day matches at Lord's and Edgbaston where the ball moved around, the bowlers were in control. That can erode confidence and belief. I got selected very young at 21. When I look back at that, and obviously involved now in the game, I wonder whether that was the right time to introduce a young player."

Succeeding Graham Gooch as full-time England batting coach in 2014, Ramprakash seems to enjoy his current role more than his playing days. "I wish I enjoyed playing a bit more and I think I am enjoying the coaching and trying to help. It's very rewarding to give. You're giving all the time to the players. I enjoy what I'm doing at the moment," Ramprakash said.

Having retired from active cricket in 2012, Ramprakash took up coaching the England U-17 and the England Lions, thanks to his friend and teammate Graham Thorpe. Even while he was playing, he did Level-4 coaching course with Andy Flower in 2006. He even tried his luck at a dance reality show, emerging winners in Strictly Come Dancing (S4) in 2006.

"It was great fun. I was knowing that my cricket career has to finish at some stage and you have to be open minded looking at what you were going to do afterwards. And this offer came out of the blue. It's just one of those things.

"Going into coaching has made me more open-minded about things. You have to be more open minded. The cricket has evolved in the past five years and you have to be open minded about new techniques or the way people think and the game."

There have been stories of Ramprakash being short-tempered in his playing days. Has he changed over time?

"I think coaching is different. A lot of coaches have a range of emotions and can get very passionate. I haven't found that so much. I found it different being a coach to a player. You know that might have to do with me being a slightly older. In coaching, I like to take a broader view and a slightly more detached objective view than a player when you're living it, you are right in the middle and it's happening. I've quite enjoyed that role."

That said, Ramprakash strongly felt "When a team does not perform perform well and the coach is not feeling that, then he shouldn't be in the job".

"Different individuals handle it in different ways. Some have sunglasses on and you find it hard to read their emotions. Others wear their hearts on their sleeve. That's part and parcel of coaching. Everyone has to be themselves."