India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun said opener KL Rahul, whom he called an ‘oustanding talent’, needs to be persisted with in the Indian Test squad.
Despite scoring a duck in the first Test against the West Indies, Rahul’s likely to feature in the second as India are looking to get the right combination for the upcoming Test series against Australia.
In his last 10 Tests (17 innings), Rahul has made 390 runs at an average of 22.94. About Rahul’s recent failures, Arun said, “Technical weakness as what you perceive I do not know but Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Bangar had a good chat with him.”
“As a coach, I feel Rahul is an outstanding player with tremendous potential, who should be persisted with. [In Rahul], we have a super batsman in the future for us,” he said.
He avoided the question of Mayank Agarwal’s inclusion in the playing XI.
“It’s not the question of experimenting but the position we are in, we would like to consolidate. We would like to put the best team on the park and I believe anyone in the 16 can play.”
‘It’s really unfortunate that Umesh didn’t get to play a lot in South Africa and in England’
Arun said pacer Umesh Yadav “was unfortunate” to have not played a lot in England and South Africa. He might have to make way when Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma make a comeback in the second Test against the West Indies.
“It’s really unfortunate that Umesh didn’t get to play a lot in South Africa and in England. The reason being, bowlers who played, performed exceptionally well,” said Arun.
“We look at Umesh as somebody who is quick. We also have a system where we rotate the bowlers so that they remain fresh and Umesh is a part of that (policy). We are extremely confident about what Umesh can bring to the table.”
‘More than the runs that [Prithvi Shaw] got, he was able to show composure for a guy playing his first Test match’
Arun also praised Prithvi Shaw’s temperament as the teenager made a hundred on his Test debut in Rajkot.
“Every Test match that we play, we have been able to throw up new players. Like Prithvi Shaw in the last Test match. More than the runs that he got, he was able to show composure for a guy playing his first Test match, these are things that we look at.”
There was considerable interest about local boy Mohammed Siraj’s chances of a Test debut but Arun remained non-committal.
However, he termed Siraj as “quick learner” whom he has nurtured since his time as Hyderabad Ranji coach.
“He is a very, very quick learner and during my stint with Hyderabad, I found him picking up things quickly. With experience and recent performances for the A team, he showed how quick a learner Siraj is,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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