“Be very mean” - Bharat Arun shares success mantra for Indian bowlers in South Africa
Former Team India bowling coach Bharat Arun has urged Jasprit Bumrah and co. to be "very mean" during their upcoming Test series in South Africa. Arun, who is credited with transforming India’s bowling into a formidable unit, said the key for the visiting bowlers will be to keep the pressure on the South African batters.
India’s Test series against South Africa will begin with the Boxing Day Test at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The Asian giants are chasing their maiden Test series win in the Rainbow Nation.
Speaking ahead of the Test series, Arun shared his success mantra for Indian bowlers in South Africa with journalist Boria Majumdar. In a video uploaded on Majumdar’s Twitter handle, the former bowling coach stated:
“I would still go for them (Indian bowlers) being very accurate. All the time, I tell the bowlers to work for excellence. It's not chasing wickets, it’s not going after anything. It is just the thought of being very very mean - not giving the batters anything.”
Breaking- Former bowling coach #BharatArun shares his mantra of success in South Africa for @Jaspritbumrah93 @MdShami11 @RevSportz https://t.co/t4yM77LKKz
The former India pacer added that the visitors must stay in the game even when not getting wickets through probing bowling. Arun explained:
“There are two ways to put pressure on a team. One is to get wickets and the other way is to curtail the flow of runs. If you are not able to get wickets, you need to curtail runs so that the opponents don’t run away from you. They are where they are. And, the minute you get a couple of wickets, you are on top of the game. This is going to be the mantra and this is what, I think, they should be following.”
India went down 2-1 to South Africa the last time they visited the country for a Test series in 2017-18. The tour marked the Test debut of Bumrah, who has since gone on to become the leader of India's bowling attack.
“The wickets in South Africa would definitely help our bowlers” - Bharat Arun
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During the interaction, Arun also asserted that India’s bowlers should do well in South Africa having experienced success in England and Australia recently.
He elaborated:
“Our bowlers have the confidence of having done well in all conditions and, more recently, in England, which is more or less similar to the conditions that you can get in South Africa. The weather would be good and the wickets would have more bounce. It’s a mix of England and Australia - South African conditions. Our bowlers have had the experience of doing well in both conditions.”
Arun concluded about India’s chances in South Africa:
“The wickets in South Africa would definitely help our bowlers, our spinners too, because of the bounce that they would be getting. I think India will do extremely well in this tour.”
India have won only three Tests in South Africa so far. One of the victories was registered in Johannesburg during their previous tour.