India bowling coach Bharat Arun was all praise for the pace bowling attack after they adapted brilliantly to the conditions at the Oval to help the team register a 36-run victory over defending champions Australia in their second World Cup group game on Sunday.
Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took six wickets among them. Defending a mammoth score of 352, the new ball bowlers ensured that the dangerous David Warner could not get off the blocks immediately and then used their variations to perfection at the death.
“We had plans not to give the batsmen any width and also to take the pace off the ball and I thought we executed the plans very well,” Bharat Arun told the ICC website.
“It was a conscious plan to bowl short to David Warner – and you saw that most of the short balls we bowled at him he wasn’t very comfortable with,” he added.
The Oval pitch slowed down gradually and Bumrah once again showed why he is currently being considered the best bowler in the world as he restricted the Australian batsmen from scoring quick runs in the death overs.
Bharat Arun said: “It’s a dream to have a bowler like him [Bumrah]. He’s one of the best in the world both at the beginning of an innings at the death.
“My job is just to remind him and Bhuvi about their plans and what they’ve done well in the past.”
The 56-year-old also insisted that the team was always clear about starting with Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the World Cup.
“It was always our plan to open the bowling with Bumrah and Bhuvi because he moves the ball around in English conditions and he bowls well at the death.”
The Indian bowling coach was also not very concerned with the lack of wickets for Kuldeep Yadav, stating every bowler goes through a difficult phase at some stage.
“Every bowler goes through a stage where they get hit. It’s my job to remind him about all the good things he has done in the past and build his confidence,” he added.