After heroics in Australia, India gearing up for England Tests

India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun believes that it is time to move on and focus on the Test series against England which begins in Chennai from February 5.

The Indian team after winning the series in Brisbane.

The Indian cricket team scripted history in Brisbane a few days ago, beating Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While the players and the fans are still basking in the glory, India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun believes that it is time to move on and focus on the Test series against England which begins in Chennai from February 5.

“For us, every match is a huge challenge. We can’t say that England's batting is better than Australia’s because Australia played in their home conditions. I would like to quote my colleague R Sridhar, who said that it took us two days to forget about the 36 all about (India was bundled out for 36 in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide). Yes, we were depressed, but we had to move on,” Arun said on Friday.

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“We have done an excellent job in Australia and have enjoyed the moment. The last two days have been good, but we need to forget this and look forward to the England tour. We would have our plans in place. We must be under quarantine ahead of the series, and that’s when all the planning would be done. We are aware that England is a tough team, and we have to work hard to beat them and we are quite prepared for that,” the bowling coach said.

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Ahead of every tour, the Indian team includes a few young cricketers as net bowlers and eventually prepare them for the big stage. In the series against Australia, T Natarajan, Washington Sundar had travelled as fast bowlers, but ended up featuring in the final eleven.

“We have been planning this for the last three years. We need an excellent bench strength because if you need India to do well at the international level, you need a pool of bowlers who will be rotated time and again, so that they stay fresh and at any point of time, we can field a fresh set of bowlers, who are raring to go,” Arun said.

“Now, we are blessed with a great bench strength and it is heartening to know that these guys have been given the opportunity and they have done an excellent job for the country. This tour would give them the necessary confidence to do well for their country at any given point of time.”