Bharat Arun reckons that pacers are like race horses and need to be handled with care

Bowling coach Bharat Arun said that Indian fast bowlers are like race horses and need to be handled with care.

The Indian fast bowling attack has been outstanding in all the overseas tours this year. In South Africa, all 60 wickets in the three Tests were claimed by the speedsters while in England they took 82 out of 90 wickets in the five Tests.

They have also made a good start in Australia as the bowling attack collectively handed India a 31-run victory to help them go ahead 1-0 in the four-match affair.

Lauding the Indian pace attack as one of the best the country has ever had, Arun, as quoted by PTI, said, “I can say that not only now for what they did in Adelaide but what they’ve done over a period of time in South Africa, in England and now in Australia. This is probably one of the best group of fast bowlers India has ever had.”

On reports that Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his wife giving away their business class tickets for the pace bowlers, ahead of the Perth Test, he said,”Fast bowlers are a precious commodity and they need to be taken care of, like what you do with a racehorse and that’s exactly what’s happening.”

Arun stressed that Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have developed and improved because of continued good performances over a period of time.

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“Consistency was a bit issue (on previous tours) and that’s something we’ve addressed with the bowlers. It’s something we’ve really worked hard on. We insist on one-person form factor even during practice, and the bowlers have responded exceptionally well. That’s showing dividends right now.
“It’s very simple work. Each time they come to the net and they bowl, they need to be aware of their plans and what they need to execute. Each time it’s a little different of what they need to execute. We just test as to how far they’ve executed each time. That feedback allows them to be more consistent,” he said.

Ahead of the second Test match in Perth, there have been reports that the pitch would offer a lot of pace and bounce and Arun, while commenting on that, said, “Obviously the bowlers would love to bowl on those type of wickets. Whatever is in the offing, we are happy with. We haven’t really taken a look at the wicket.

He added, “Irrespective of what the conditions (are), we said we’d come here and look at it as our home conditions whatever conditions we get. We are up for it and we are prepared for any conditions that may exist at the ground.”

The 55-year old also had a word of advice for the fast bowlers.

“On overseas wickets, especially like in Perth, you can be carried away by the extra pace and bounce, but again you need to understand that on any responsive track what is really going to be successful is your consistency. And that is what we’re going to work on with the bowlers,” he opined.

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