Decoding lengths, tactics and India in England, with Bharat Arun

From their disappointing tours of 2011 and 2014, India have come a long way in England. In 2018, they went down by a deceptive scoreline of 1-4 against an evenly matched side but more than made up for it in 2021, when they enjoyed an upper hand for most of the series. The victories at Lord's and Oval last year earned them a 2-1 lead and set them up for a fascinating fifth and final Test at Edgbaston a year later. India unfortunately lost that against an in-form England side but still had plenty of positives to take away from the drawn series.

Bharat Arun, India's bowling coach between 2014-2016 and 2017-2021, spoke to Cricbuzz about each of the fast bowlers, the turnaround in England and the preparation that went behind it, how he tried to "empower" the bowlers in the nets, how "judicious use of technology" works and more.

Excerpts

What's the first thing you told the bowlers about bowling in England?

That it's a country where there is some help from the pitch and also in the air, depending on the conditions, of course. Ideally, for the ball to move, you have to give it more air time and bowl it slightly up. Even a half-volley can be a good ball at times, so don't be afraid to bowl full.

The lengths in England will be different from what you bowl in Australia or India. More percentage of balls should be hitting the stumps, that's the ideal length in England.

So deciding what lengths to bowl is the absolute key in England. How did the bowlers go on and prepare for it?

Each bowler has to figure out the length that is ideal for him. And for me as a coach, I would just give them the right feedback so that they get the length that suits their kind of bowling. It's just a difference of a foot in the lengths you bowl in India and England, but the bowler has to try and still find it. It's a trial and error method. You figure out what suits you. Sometimes what you try in the nets might not necessarily be helpful, but you go over and over your process.

When the bowlers are busy figuring their own kind of ideal lengths in England, what was your feedback like?

More than telling them, we would encourage bowlers to experiment for themselves and figure out what they think is good, the pros and cons of it, and my feedback would be around how the ball reacts when they bowled those lengths. For some batters who like the drive, you don't mind a few boundaries going because that could be their downfall as well. My job at that level is to encourage a bowler to keep pitching it up. That's where the right feedback comes in, so that the bowler knows he is empowered to make decisions for himself. It's important that the bowler works on his strength rather than trying things in a match which aren't his strengths. And you build your strengths in the nets. (More on this later in the interview)

It's about encouraging a bowler to think for himself?

Exactly.

When you say that you encouraged the Indian bowlers to try things on their own in the nets, do you mean trying in terms of lengths or is there more to it?

It can be anything, not necessarily only lengths. It can even be something as simple as the grip, it can be variations in the grip, it can be variations in the position of the bowling arm... which can be close to the head or it can be slightly away. I feel, what a bowler thinks he's doing and what he's actually doing are two different things. So as a coach, you've to help them bridge that gap. Today, there's a lot of help with technology, there're videos and you also have an analyst. You take videos and when they see for themselves what they think they did and what they are actually doing, and that there's a slight variance in that, it will help them to bridge the gap and also give them confidence.

For example, if I ask them to bowl with the arm slightly away from the head, they would probably think they are becoming very round arm. It's the feeling they would get. But if they see the video and realize 'oh, I am not too round arm' and that there's a very small difference, then it gives them the confidence (to keep trying new things). Without seeing, they would probably think that something new won't work for them at all. So, I think judicious use of technology just to enhance what you're trying to tell a bowler is important.

How are India's bowlers in terms of coming up with their own plans?

As I said earlier, I believe in empowering the bowler. I believe in them coming up with their own plans and then we are there to fine-tune it or add a few things. The mindset of a bowler is something you don't want to confuse. He doesn't need too many inputs other than what he's thinking. Of course when it doesn't work, then you say, 'Hey why don't you try this?'. But if he has come out with a plan and you think it's on the right track, you just go ahead and back him and make him feel that it's his thought process that's coming through. I am happy for the bowler to be thinking for himself, come out with his own plans and set his own fields.

What kind of adjustments did the current crop of Indian bowlers have to make in England?

If you look at Ishant Sharma, initially he was bowling from close to the stumps and his wrist was slightly tilted and it was in a brilliant position to be bowling inswing. But then when he was bowling close to the stumps, sometimes the deliveries would slide down the legside. And when he tried to bowl on the other side of the stumps, the line ended up being slightly more outside off. He was the most economical bowler, yes, but he did not make the batsman play as much as he'd have wanted. So just a slight adjustment of bowling from the middle of the box, you know, it changes the angle. From there, it's very challenging for the batter when the ball comes in. These are the kinds of things you notice in bowlers and suggest different adjustments that they need to make. And when they do it, they discover things about themselves and that's how they evolve.

Not that Ishant now doesn't use the crease to bowl from close to the stumps. When you are bowling to left-handers, you can go close to the stumps because that's the line you'd want and also because of the position of his wrist. If you remember Ishant Sharma at his peak, he used to bowl round the wicket to left-handers, with the angle that comes in and leaves them. He was probably one of the best bowlers to left-handers because of the angle and time and again, he'd been a thorn in the flesh for them.

You say you're a big believer in empowering the bowler. Can you remember an instance when a bowler has come up with a plan of his own and it made you proud?

I would say Mohammed Siraj