India will be playing three Test matches against Sri Lanka starting from 12 August. The first will be played at Galle, Sri Lanka.
Indian bowling has been a point of serious concern in the overseas but looking at the ability of the bowlers India have picked up for the tour, bowling coach Bharat Arun feels that Indian bowlers are likely to dominate on the Sri Lankan soil.
"There is great potential in this fast bowling unit. We have a couple of guys who can clock 145-plus on a consistent basis and also the fact that we have Ishant who is pretty experienced. He can extract extra bounce off the wicket and of late, Ishant has been extremely consistent. That's a very, very encouraging fact," Arun said in an interview to Espn Cricinfo.
"Bhuvi has had a wonderful tour in Zimbabwe where he has rediscovered himself. He is moving the ball pretty well both ways. So we do have the variety. We have somebody who can move the ball and seam the ball, and someone who can extract that extra bounce, and a couple of bowlers who can clock 145-plus. That gives us enough variety to battle any conditions," he said.
Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron can bowl at some serious pace and Arun is aware of it. He stressed on the fact that the two talented bowlers have immense potential but they will have to be consistent in all formats of the game. They have to cut down on their economy rates too.
"Something that I would definitely not want is sacrificing pace. It is a wrong concept sometimes that people who bowl fast are generally erratic. As you get more and more efficient in your action and your thought process, I think you can be fast and accurate. The challenge for these two would be to not compromise on their speed but get a lot more accurate," Arun suggested.
The coach also backed the capabilities of the bowlers who can bat. Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bat for a fair amount of time and the first two have two centuries each to their names.
"We have three bowlers who can bat well. R Ashwin has two hundreds in Tests, so has Harbhajan Singh. And Bhuvi is more than a capable bat. Our lower order needs to live up to this challenge and contribute. I think the five-bowler concept is the best that you can look forward to," Arun said ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka.
India have not won a series in the overseas in the last four years nor they have managed to clinch a Test series in the Lankan island in the last 22 years. This is India's best chance to seal a series win against a rather inexperienced Sri Lanka side, which is going through a transitional phase after their big guns have retired from this format of the game.
