MSK Prasad praises bowling coach Bharat Arun along with Bumrah & Shami

A lot of unconvinced voices were heard with lesser-known Bharat Arun taking over as the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team. However, after the Indian bowlers’ splendid performance last year when the team mostly played overseas and shed their age-old tag of being underperformers, the 56-year-old former India pacer has also received an acknowledgement along with the players.

India recently beat Australia 2-1 in a Test series in their den, achieving one of their pinnacle moments in the game in history and major credit for the victory goes to the bowlers who bowled out Australia in seven out of eight innings while one was disrupted by rain. The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma had a terrific 2018, to say the least, and even broke a three-decade-old record of picking up most wickets in unison.

The record was held by the legendary Caribbean quicks – Joel Garner, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall. Of the three, Bumrah and Shami ended up with 48 and 47 wickets, respectively, in the calendar year, finishing among the top five globally. Sharma was a bit behind with 30-plus scalps but yet was a key constituent of the terrific troika.

India’s chief selector MSK Prasad came up with heavy praise for Bumrah and Shami besides Arun for his tireless efforts to see the Indian bowling attack reach where it is today. He also lauded the support staff for continuously monitoring Bumrah’s workload to help him improve as a bowler besides patting Shami on his back for his stress on fitness.

“Trust me, had Jasprit played those two Tests against West Indies, he wouldn’t have played all four Tests against Australia. The support staff has really monitored him well. He is now fitter and stronger and with Bharath Arun continuously working with him, he has improved as a bowler,” Timesnownews.com cited reports as quoting Prasad.

Credit goes to Jasprit as well

“But a lot of credit should go to Jasprit because Arun gave him a plan but it was up to him to make the effort to implement the plan. He has really worked hard,” he added.

Prasad also said that there were a lot of people who were sceptical about picking Bumrah for the red-ball format saying he is a white-ball specialist but by the time the year ended, everybody was proved wrong. Bumrah made his debut in Tests against South Africa in January last year and came up with a splendid show in his debut year in which he only played matches overseas.

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