New Delhi :
On the eve of the final one-day International before the forthcoming World Cup, India's bowling coach addressed media and expressed his thoughts on the team experimentation, Dhoni's importance and a lot more. As of now, the series stands level 2-2, and this remains to be seen if India can finish the bilateral assignment on high. Seeing India's schedule for the series against Australia, the men-in-blue didn't get time to reflect on the areas they need to improve and proper rest, and this was one of many reasons why India team didn't do practice ahead of the final encounter.
"Considering the workload to what team is subjected to from so long and have played back to back matches, to keep team mentally and physically fresh for a big game, we didn't practise," says Bharat Arun.
When asked about Indian bowlers' performance in the last game, when they were stashed away for runs to chase a mammoth target of 359, Arun said, "These are the bowlers who have helped us to become a strong team. If you see our success rate over the year and a half, it's close to 80 per cent. However, I am happy it happened before the big tournament because it throws a lot of factors where we can improve."
He was also asked about whether the current Indian team is the final team for the forthcoming World Cup or one can still see new faces into the squads. "More or less this will be our squad, but we would want to try all our options before the World Cup so that there isn't any room of improvement in experimentation."
India is termed as firm favourites to lift the upcoming World Cup, but post this performance when asked about the areas of concerns, Bharat Arun said, "There are certainly few areas which we need to address and I look at it as a positive of whatever it happened because it has really thrown out the areas where we need to push ourselves."
Shami missed the last game at PCA IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali after suffering an injury in Mohali while bowling to the Australian skipper Aaron Finch. Updating on his injury, Arun went on saying, "That was only a precautionary measure. He is fully fit and raring to go." MS Dhoni was rested after the Ranchi ODI and Rishabh Pant was given a chance to keep behind the stumps. However, he didn't have the great outing, missing stumping and catches.
"It is very unfair to compare Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni at this particular moment. Dhoni is a legend and proved on many occasions. And his advise and help has helped Virat when he needs someone to talk to. But we are trying a few faces to have a balanced team for the World Cup," he concluded.
