Bharat Arun - The '20 wickets' man

It was past 1.30 AM in the morning in Dubai and Bharat Arun and Ravi Shastri were still up. “Chatting with Ravi. It is gradually starting to sink in”, said Bharat when I asked him if he had started to feel a sense of void.

While much of the glare is on Ravi and much talk on Virat Kohli as T20I captain, Bharat has been a critical cog of the Indian think tank and someone who has made a major difference in making this bowling unit a truly formidable one.

At the time when Bharat took over, workload management was just a term in Indian cricket. Sports science was just a concept. Under him, it turned from theory to practice. India started picking 20 wickets with serious consistency and Bharat deserves a lot of credit in bringing about this transformation.

With a decade and a half of coaching experience and having coached many of the current crop at the U-19 level, Arun had a natural advantage with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and the lot.

“What we now have in this unit is all-round ability. We have pace and most of our fast bowlers are touching 140kmph regularly. We have swing, both conventional and reverse. We have quality seam movement and finally we have quality spin. If you have an attack with such variety it is only natural you will do well consistently”, says Bharat.

Catch the next match on the 2021 T20 World Cup schedule here.

"Bharat Arun has been a lot more than a bowling coach" - R Ashwin

Happy to play the role of strategist away from the limelight, Arun is leaving behind a serious legacy. Ravi Ashwin, one of India’s greatest match winners, said it beautifully when I spoke to him late last night -

“Bharat Arun has been a lot more than a bowling coach. He has vast technical knowledge and we have had some great discussions on angles and plans. He has helped me deal with some really tough phases in England. He has made a telling contribution to this team”, said Ashwin.

As Bharat hands the baton, he is moving away a proud man. He has successfully fashioned a unit that can think of winning in any condition in any part of the world and pick 20 opposition wickets each time they play a Test match. That’s what he had set out to achieve when he got the job 4 years back.

Well done Bharat and well bowled.