Bharat Arun happy to see the growth of Indian fast bowlers

Thiruvananthapuram, October 31: The effort of young left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed has left bowling coach Bharat Arun a chuffed man and excited about India's bowling riches.

"Khaleel looks a very exciting prospect. He's sharp, has the skills to do well at the international level," Arun said of Khaleel who took 3/13 to bundle out West Indies' middle-order in Mumbai during the fourth ODI.

RAYUDU MAKING NO.4 SLOT HIS OWN" title="5TH ODI PREVIEW | RAYUDU MAKING NO.4 SLOT HIS OWN" />5TH ODI PREVIEW | RAYUDU MAKING NO.4 SLOT HIS OWN

Underlining the growth of Indian pace department, Arun, himself a former India pacer, said: "Four fast bowlers playing in the same match was unheard of. I think, in South Africa, for the first time in Indian cricket history, we went into a match without a single spinner. This augurs really well for Indian cricket."

Arun said it is important to manage the workload of bowlers in view of the ICC World Cup 2019 to be held in England in seven months' time.

"When we started off, the onus was on not only creating a pace bowling unit which would be a force to reckon with but we also needed a very good bench strength. To sustain fast bowling over a long period of time, you need to rotate these bowlers because you have to manage their workloads. India plays at least 60 percent more cricket than the rest of the world.

"So workload management becomes very important. For the first time, I guess, we have a very good fast bowling quartet and also the bench strength is very exciting," Arun said.

Arun said the team management will continue to use yo yo test to measure the fitness levels of players despite some frontline cricketers like Mohammad Shami and Ambati Rayudu recently falling short of the set standard.

"With the kind of schedules we have, it's (fitness) very-very important part. The mark we have kept for the people to pass is not very tough. Anyone who is in the team, has to definitely pass the fitness test," he said.

Whispers have been growing into a clamour about MS Dhoni's diminishing prowess with the bat but Arun it will be naive to write off the former Indian skipper.

"He's one of the legends of Indian cricket and his striking ability is there for everyone to see. He's done many a times before. He's extremely experienced and I'm sure, given the opportunities, he will come really good," he said.