Easy to work with Hardik Pandya, says Bharat Arun

The presence of a left-arm pacer in any team only strengthens it and that is exactly why India’s newest bowling coach Bharat Arun is in search of a potent left-arm speedster as with that, the Indian team would cover all bases. Since Zaheer Khan‘s departure, India have not found another capable left-arm pacer. Ashish Nehra was never a permanent prospect because of injuries while Barinder Sran faded away quickly too because of the same reason while Aniket Chaudhary hasn’t appeared as promising.

In his second stint, Arun expects better communication with India A team chief coach Rahul Dravid and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey who will be vital in moulding the core of the team for the years to come. He also stressed on the fact that Ravichandran Ashwin who has played only 15 ODI matches since World Cup 2015 will be in the scheme of things for the next World Cup that is less than 2 years away now.

“I have just come into this role so definitely we will be speaking to the coaches of the ‘A’ team and I guess there needs to be information that needs to be shared for us to make best use of bowlers coming in. We have wrist spinners like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. So, if we can get even one good left-arm fast bowler it will go well for the side,” Arun said.

“He (Ashwin) is very skilful. I don’t want to look at what has happened so far but he is definitely part of the ODI team. We would also like to give a lot of opportunities to other bowlers as well (hence the rotation), then we can have a long-term plan in place and then we will take a call accordingly,” he told Times Of India.

Positivity about Hardik Pandya

Pandya’s graph since he stepped into the Indian team has only gone up and Arun was among those who spoke highly of the all-rounder, who, in his opinion, is quickly developing into a reliable pace option for India.

“If you look at Hardik, he works up very good speeds and bowls 135-plus consistently. He wants to bowl those full 10 overs. And he does understand that to bowl those 10 overs he needs to work harder and become more skilful. He is not afraid of trying different things. So my job is a lot easier to be working with somebody like Hardik who wants to upgrade on his skill,” the former Tamil Nadu medium pacer said.