Bharat Arun credits Jasprit Bumrah for India's pace bowling transformation

The performance of the Indian pace-trio was simply exceptional during the 5 Tests played in home conditions very recently. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav rattled South Africa and Bangladesh with their hostile bowling and were instrumental in ensuring India completed a clean sweep against both the teams.

Also see – World Test Championship Schedule

The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar completes the Fab 5 of the Indian pace attack. All these 5 bowlers are match-winners on their days and arguably the best fast bowling unit in the world. Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun is of the opinion that the recent success of the Indian pacers is not merely possible due to hard work but due to the open communication with support staff.

He feels India always boasted of a decent pace bowling attack but lack of communication with support staff didn’t ensure that they had long careers. Bharat Arun told the Times of India in an interview:

“With all the skill-sets they were acquiring, the pace should have ideally shot up or remained consistent. When we started to look into it, we realised there were multiple factors that affected fast bowlers.”

“Over-bowling was one. The monitoring of workload was missing. There was lack of sufficient rest. And under-bowling too was an important factor. It all boiled down to individual conditioning."

“There has to be a lot of dialogue between the coach, the physio and the trainer. Only when a bowler begins to tell you how he feels, and shares his thoughts, beliefs and fears completely, will it allow the people around the bowler to manage him efficiently.”

Arun, who has been with the Indian team for a long time now, reiterated the fact that the Indian pace battery has been honest with the coaching staff which has helped them manage the workload of the pacers. He also credited Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri for the change in culture.

"It (honest) is a word that is used often but what is important to consider is the underlying context attached to it."

"Ahead of the Sydney Test, Ishant Sharma came up and said he wouldn't be able to play because he was facing some discomfort. The team decided to go in with three fast bowlers and included Kuldeep."

"After the Australian series, Bumrah was supposed to travel to New Zealand. But he came up and said, 'I'm really feeling tired (after the Oz series). I've given everything'. Of course he had."

"He took his break, went back home, took some rest and stayed fresh for the next series. Much of the credit here goes to Virat and Ravi for making this space available to the players."

While Arun was delighted with the current crop of Indian fast bowlers, he gave special mention to Jasprit Bumrah who has been out of action due to a back problem. Arun called him the ‘driving force’ in the transformation of the Indian pace attack. It wasn’t long ago when Bumrah became the 2nd Indian bowler to bag a Test hat-trick.

“He (Bumrah) has been the driving force of this fast bowling attack. He came in and took the world by storm. That motivated the others to step up.

“That was the initial build-up to this attack. It all started in South Africa last year. I remember Ravi telling these boys, 'From now on, no bowling up'.

“In the second innings, they shot off South Africa for 131. That was the beginning of a story that these boys are busy scripting right now.”

Bumrah is expected to play a very important role when Indian tours New Zealand in February next year. He has been a sensational performer for the national team and his return to the side will only enhance India’s chances of winning another Test series.