Can have different sets of bowlers for different formats: Bharat Arun
Abu Dhabi: The Indian cricket team is in a “much better place” compared to the time he came on board and there is enough talent to handle transition of pacers and have different bowlers across three formats, feels outgoing bowling coach Bharat Arun. Arun, head coach Ravi Shastri and fielding coach R Sridhar will end […]
Abu Dhabi: The Indian cricket team is in a “much better place” compared to the time he came on board and there is enough talent to handle transition of pacers and have different bowlers across three formats, feels outgoing bowling coach Bharat Arun.
Arun, head coach Ravi Shastri and fielding coach R Sridhar will end their tenure with India’s campaign in the T20 World Cup. Arun, largely credited for developing a crack fast bowling unit comprising Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, feels that the amount of cricket scheduled in these times would require proper “workload management” and bowlers with different skill-sets.
“Absolutely,” Arun agreed when asked if there was a possibility of different bowlers turning up for three separate formats. “It is not only the volume cricket that India is playing but also to remain in the bubble and playing is not easy, I can guarantee. They do need sufficient breaks as the mental health is going to be very, very important going forward,” he added.
“It’s going to be the norm for at least 1-2 years. So it’s important to have a very good pool of fast bowlers so we can afford to field different teams for different formats. “It will not only help in understanding different talents that are available but it keeps our bowlers mentally and physically fresh,” Arun tried to put things in perspective.
It was easy for Arun to talk about the high points during his tenure. “The back-to-back wins in Australia and also more or less winning the series in England – of course there’s one more Test to go. But I think the performance was outstanding during the English series.”
Arun feels there is enough talent in India to be able to handle the transition phase when the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami are phased out in a year or two. “India always can boast of really good bowlers, but the workload management ensured they remained extremely fresh at any given point of time so we could even rotate.” He named Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as the torch bearers of next crop of fast bowlers.
“Going forward, we have some exciting talents with the likes of Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna coming in. With the workload management in place, I’m sure it’s going to go forward and would be force to reckon with in near future.”
The biggest challenge since he came back in 2017 was to prepare a Test team that could win in all conditions. “Ravi and Virat got together and wanted to put a team which could win in all conditions. We had a balanced side. We had one of the best spin attacks in the world so it was about creating another force that could complement our bowling that could suit in all conditions. All of us came together,” he said.
‘Short break between IPL and WC would have helped’
India’s outgoing bowling coach Bharat Arun said that toss and bubble fatigue contributed to the team’s indifferent performance in the T20 World Cup, where it was outplayed by Pakistan and New Zealand in the Super 12 stage.
Asked if the absence of a break between IPL and T20 World Cup became a factor in the underwhelming show, Arun responded in the positive. The IPL ended on October 15, and India’s World Cup campaign began on October 24. “Being on the road for six months is a huge ask. Players haven’t gone home and I think they had a short break after the last IPL got suspended (in May),” Arun said on the eve of India’s final Super 12 game against Namibia.
“They have been in a bubble for six months and that takes a huge toll, so specific to your question, may be a short break between IPL and World Cup could have done a lot of good for these boys,” he added.
However, he was pretty annoyed that in a tournament of this stature, toss played such a crucial role, as India, while batting first, looked a different outfit compared to the opposition, who were helped in shot-making because of the dew-laden surface.
“Toss played a very, very vital role and I believe in these kind of matches, toss shouldn’t be of any consequence,” he said. “Here toss gives unfair advantage and there is a huge change in batting in the first innings and batting in the second innings. That shouldn’t be the case in a short format like this,” he said.
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