India’s new bowling coach Bharat Arun, who was appointed into the Ravi Shastri-led setup by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday, said that felt great to be back in the scheme of things and aimed at being a “good value addition” in the roster.
Arun was part of Shastri’s backroom staff for two years, which was sprinkled with a good run during the 2015 World Cup and helped the side beat South Africa 3-0 in a Test series at home the same year. He also was also a part of India’s victorious side that traveled to Sri Lanka before making an exit after the 2016 World T20, “It feels great to be back in the Indian scheme of things and work again with the likes of [Ravi] Shastri, [Sanjay] Bangar and [R] Sridhar. I’m looking forward to the Lanka series,” Arun was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
Arun was a part of the Hyderabad side during the 2016-’17 Ranji Trophy, taking the young side to then knockout rounds. Away from the scrutiny and glare that comes with taking up a role for India, Arun says he enjoyed his stint at domestic cricket. He said: “I really enjoyed my stint working with a young bunch in Hyderabad. However, it’s a dream for everyone to be part of the Indian team. Having got back into the side now, it’s an even bigger challenge for me to be a good value addition to the team.”
The current lot of Indian bowlers – spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and pacers Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – have worked closely with the former Andhra Pradesh all-rounder. India travel to Sri Lanka later in the month, and will start the tour by playing a three-match Test series.
