Bharat Arun confident quicks will fire against Sri Lanka

Sudhir Gupta 08:52 06/08/2015
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  • Time to perform: Aaron (l).

    India bowling coach Bharat Arun believes the team has a strong fast bowling set-up and is confident quicks Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav will be able to bowl at good pace for consistent periods in the upcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka which starts on August 12 at Galle.

    Captain Virat Kohli has expressed his desire to field five bowlers and in such a scenario the team’s quick men have found them- selves in the spotlight. The attack will be led by the 6ft 4ins Ishant Sharma who has 187 wickets in 62 Tests with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Aaron and Yadav lending him support.

    It’s this mix of raw pace (Aaron and Yadav), swing (Kumar) and bounce (Sharma) that has given Arun a lot of hope.

    “There is great potential in this fast bowling unit. We have a couple of guys who can clock 145-plus on a consistent basis and also the fact that we have Ishant who is pretty experienced. He can extract extra bounce off the wicket and of late, Ishant has been extremely consistent. That’s a very, very encouraging fact,” Arun was quoted as saying by bcci.tv.

    “Bhuvi has had a wonderful tour in Zimbabwe where he has rediscovered himself; he is moving the ball pretty well both ways.

    “So we do have the variety in somebody who can move the ball, someone who can extract that extra bounce and a couple of bowlers who can clock 145-plus. That gives us enough variety to battle any conditions.”

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    The bowling coach admits that in Test cricket accuracy was important but fast bowlers need not compromise on pace.

    “Something that I would definitely not want is sacrificing pace. It is a wrong concept that people who bowl fast are generally erratic,” he added. “As you get more efficient in your action and your thought process, I think you can be fast and accurate like many of the other bowlers in the world over have proved.

    “The challenge for these two (Aaron and Yadav) would be to not compromise on their speed but get a lot more accurate.”

    Given captain Kohli’s five-bowler strategy, Arun said the onus will be on the lower order to produce more runs.

    “If you look at world cricket, any Test team that dominated always had five bowlers. Probably if we get an all-rounder, preferably a batting all-rounder, it would be very ben- eficial for the side,” the 52-year-old said.

    “Both Ashwin and Harbhajan have two Test centuries and Bhuvi is more than capable with the bat. Our lower-order needs to live up to this challenge.” 

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