How did Team India become world beaters under Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri? Bharat Arun details the fast-bowling revolution and team’s journey.
Beneath India’s Test cricket resurgence, two uncompromising personalities, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, stood as torchbearers, leading the team with ambition and a relentless drive for excellence.
When Bharat Arun, India’s former bowling coach, reflected on India’s Test supremacy under their partnership in an interview with Bombay Sport Exchange, he highlighted one defining feature: “Both were very passionate about Test cricket and wanted India to be the number one Test-playing country in the world. That was our single-point agenda.”
Kohli’s fierce hunger to succeed and Shastri’s backing created a culture where talent was maximised, risk encouraged, and setbacks embraced as stepping stones.
This passionate vision, according to Arun, fuelled sweeping changes. “Virat was like a tiger in the dressing room, always raring to go. Ravi complemented him with his experience and positivity. Both were fearless, unafraid to lose, always pushing the team to play bold, aggressive cricket irrespective of conditions,” Arun said.
Under their guidance, the team didn’t flinch from overseas challenges, instead, they sought them out, ticking every box required for global success: honesty, fitness, consistency, and, above all, a burning pride in red-ball cricket.
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Genesis of India’s fast-bowling revolution
When Bharat Arun joined the coaching setup under Ravi Shastri in 2017, India were on the cusp of an evolution. From the outset, Arun emphasised technical rigour, sculpting the natural talent of bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma into world-beating consistency.
His philosophy was: Test bowling excellence is built on fitness, tactical adaptability, and an uncompromising attention to workload management. As Arun revealed on the Bombay Sport Exchange, “To take the impact of fast bowling, you need to be like a bull”, highlighting the physical and mental steel he demanded from his wards.
Workload management
A pivotal differentiator under Arun and Shastri was meticulous workload management, anchored by real-time data analysis. Using GPS trackers, Arun and the support staff monitored every bowler’s movement, sometimes covering 20 km in a Test, to optimise training and prevent injuries.
“The tracker gives us a lot of information… you can manage the workload at training sessions. India bowlers have managed to do that so far. That’s why we are successful as a bowling unit and the bowlers can bowl at 140 kmph regularly,” Arun was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.
This approach paid off handsomely. Between 2018 and 2021, India clinched Test series in Australia twice, a first for any Asian team. Fast bowlers accounted for more than 60% of the wickets in both campaigns, with Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj forming a formidable attack. Shami collected 133 wickets in just four years, while Ishant Sharma became India’s top SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) pacer with 121 wickets.
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Grooming and transformation
A defining hallmark of Arun’s tenure was his investment in the personal transformation of Indian bowlers. Take Jasprit Bumrah’s journey, as detailed in Arun’s interview with Bombay Sport Exchange. Despite his unusual action and doubts about his long-term fitness, Arun pushed Bumrah to alter his lifestyle, diet, fitness, and attitude, “overnight.”
“He gave up burgers, pizzas, milkshakes. His love for bowling was greater than any food craving,” Arun said. This sacrifice and focus made Bumrah arguably India’s greatest fast bowler in under a decade, amassing 457 wickets in 207 international matches at an average of 20.63 and a strike rate of 33.77.
Mohammed Siraj and Shami similarly flourished, with Arun providing not just technical correction but also emotional fortitude, especially during tough tours and personal hardships.
The golden era
India topped the ICC Test rankings for the better part of Arun’s tenure and reached the final of the maiden ICC World Test Championship. Also, India won Test series in Australia, drew series in England, and dominated at home with seamers often out-performing spinners in favourable conditions from 2018 to 2021.
The best part about the trio behind the success – Kohli, Shastri, Arun – was that they inculcated the zeal of taking wickets among the bowlers. India pace battery averaged under 25 runs per wicket across SENA countries during this era, unprecedented for any of India’s sides.
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