Dropping a bowler of Umesh Yadav's calibre shows our bench strength: Bharat Arun

If the last seven years have been the best phase for the Indian bowling unit it is largely due to Bharat ArunHe can be credited for making the Indian bowling unit a formidable one and a force to reckon with in world cricket Arunrsquos association with Team India ended with the T20 World Cup recently Back in Chennai while ldquotrying to settle down at homerdquo Arun spoke to midday on Monday about his stint with the Indian teamEdited excerpts of an interviewHow did the bowling consistency come aboutWhat we worked on were simple things We worked on consistency because all the bowlers were extremely talented and they had the skillset to do well But in order to do exceptionally well we needed to have the consistency You cannot recreate the pressure of a match in net practice But you can create a little bit of pressure in the nets So the bowlers came up with their plans and executed them in the nets I would give them three pats for executing their plans well Once they came up with their plans and then spell out the areas they were going to focus on I could easily give them feedback as to how they have fared in the nets I had to be a taskmaster in giving feedback There were no half measures So this kind of feedback allowed them to improve Yes there were debates and friendly banter but ultimately it was about seriousness and being consistent in the nets If you are consistent there in the nets and create pressure then the match is an extension of thatBharat Arun PicAFPWhich bowler impressed you the mostI cannot single out any bowler because each onersquos contribution has been immense at different times And how they have come about doing that is interesting Like Mohammed Shamihe has the best seam position in the world Every time you challenge him or foulmouth him you get the best out of him when he gets angry Jasprit Bumrah is different and sharp thinker Ishant Sharma was always economical but we wanted him to challenge batsmen by making them play more Umesh Yadav was outstanding with the reverse swing While he would bowl a few beauties he would also go for runs So that is one element he worked really hard on When given the opportunity every time he has played in India he has done tremendously well It is most unfortunate that we had to bench a bowler of Umeshrsquos calibre That also speaks volumes of our bench strengthIshant and Shami are in their 30s How do you see Indiarsquos future fast bowling stocksAs long as the bowlers can keep themselves in prime condition they can carry on for some time The future of Indian bowling looks bright with the likes of Mohammed Siraj Shardul Thakur Prasidh Krishna and Umran Malik Although it is too early to say anything about Umran he is an exciting talent Avesh Khan is another exciting prospect I am sure there are many more such bowlers in the country It augurs very well for IndiaHow did you transform Indiarsquos bowling into an outandout pace unitIndia always had fast bowlers It started with Kapil Dev and then you had Javagal Srinath Zaheer Khan Ashish Nehra There was a time when we had Nehra Zaheer Munaf Patel Irfan Pathan They were all quick but gradually their pace dropped So we tried to find out why that happened We strength and conditioning coach physio and coaches analysed that managing their workload was important because if you overbowl or underbowl is a problem So one has to have optimal balance It is 50 per cent on skills and 50 per cent fitness both should complement each other If you overdo one thing you are going to suffer at some stage So once we put the workload management in place it helped the fast bowlers to remain fresh and hunt in a packHow do you see the spin department shaping upThere has been a lot of talk about fast bowling but the spinners have put up an exceptional show whenever they have played in India They have won so many matches Looking at R Ashwin he is probably the fittest in his career now He is bowling beautifully coupled by his experience Jadeja has a long way in his career and he is at his best while bowling batting We also know what kind of a fielder he is Kuldeep Yadav you canrsquot write him off He has got a great future He is exceptionally talented I am sure he will do exceptionally well for usWhatrsquos next for youIf there is an opportunity I will be involved with the IPL Coaching is my forte I was only working with the cream players but now I will have an opportunity to spreadmy wings07No of times India bowled out hosts England in the four Test matches earlier this year