“I don’t think they supported Bumrah much”: Bharat Arun on India’s bowling performance in 1st Test

Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun shares his opinion on where the visitors went wrong with the ball during the first Test against South Africa at Centurion. While Arun was impressed with Jasprit Bumrah, he felt the speedster didn’t get enough support from the other end.

Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur were inconsistent with their line and length, which gave the Proteas plenty of opportunities to score boundaries.

Speaking to Revsportz, here’s what Bharat Arun had to say about India’s mistakes with the ball:

“There were far too many boundaries scored. Adapting your bowling to different conditions is crucial. If you are in good form, just awareness of the conditions is more than sufficient for you to adapt.”

“I think bowlers at international level should be able to adapt a lot more easily than bowlers who are just starting. With the experience that the Indian team has, I think we should have adapted. Bumrah bowled exceptionally well but the rest of them, I don’t think they supported him much the way they should have.”

“At least don’t give away so many runs at that pace. The pace at which they get the runs becomes very important for them to set up Test matches.”

“If you ask me in one word, it is the bowling discipline that counts – understanding and more awareness of the conditions and what are the likely lengths to be bowling in these conditions is the key to any success for a bowling unit,” he added.

India surrendered meekly in the second innings: Bharat Arun

Bharat Arun appreciated KL Rahul’s century, praising the batter’s ability to dig deep and take his team to a fighting first-inning total (245).

However, he was disappointed with the way India capitulated in the second innings (131), handing South Africa victory by an inning and 32 runs.

Arun said, “Well, to see India come back and [KL] Rahul get that century was quite happening. And there was quite a lot of help in the wicket for the bowlers. So we had a very, very positive feeling about the whole thing. And we thought that we could make a Test match out of this.”

“I think winning or losing a Test match is okay. But I think the way we lost the last Test – we surrendered meekly in the second innings – is not a good feeling,” he added.

The second and final Test of the series begins on January 3 in Cape Town.