Indian team bowling coach B Arun has admitted that the team didn’t play to their full potential against Pakistan in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2021, which they lost by 10 wickets, their first defeat in World Cups to their archrivals.
India then lost their second match to New Zealand and despite two big wins over Afghanistan and Scotland, their fate rests in the hands of Mohammad Nabi and co beating New Zealand in their encounter in Abu Dhabi on November 7, 2021.
India and Namibia will lock horns against each other in the Super 12 stage of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday and Indian bowling coach B Arun talked about the journey so far.
"I am not trying to give any excuses but this World Cup, the trend has been that the team which wins the toss has a big advantage especially when you are playing in Dubai. The wicket eases out when you bowl the second time, it is no excuse, we should have done better, we should have batted better. In the first game, we had the chance to defend our total but we looked a little below-par," said Arun while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
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Talking about the high points under his tenure as bowling coach, Arun said: "I think it has been a great and outstanding journey for me, there have been ups and downs but I think the team is in a much better position than it was when we started. Pretty happy about it, the highest point would be the kind of bowling we have, we strived hard to achieve success overseas as a team and we went about achieving that. The highest point would be two back-to-back series wins in Australia."
“More or less winning the series in England, there is one more Test to go, the performance of the team during this English series was outstanding. Actually, it took us a little while, it is a combination of strength and conditioning, the physiotherapy, and the bowling department all coming together to create this type of bowling unit. India can always boast of good fast bowlers but the workload management in place ensured that the fast bowlers remained fresh and that we could even rotate," he added.
Further talking about the bowling depth, the coach said: "The likes of Mohammed Siraj coming in, Prasidh Krishna, with the workload management in place, I am sure we will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. Absolutely, not only the volume of cricket our country is playing but also being in the bubble and playing is not very easy. They do not need sufficient breaks, the mental health is going to be very important. This is going to be the norm for us in the coming year."
"In our country, we have a good pool of fast bowlers so we can afford to field different teams for different formats. Also, it keeps our bowlers mentally and physically fresh," he added.
(ANI inputs)
