Ravi Shastri defends Bharat Arun's selection as bowling coach

One of the first questions that Ravi Shastri was asked at the press conference before leaving for the Sri Lankan tour was why Bharat Arun was chosen as India's bowling coach ahead of Zaheer Khan who was the CAC’s choice for bowling consultant.

However, Shastri defended the appointment of his former teammate saying, "There's a track record - 15 years his life has been coaching. You look at that track record - it's outstanding, right from junior level to A teams to Indian junior World Cup teams, he's been part of - he knows these boys better than I do because he's been in the system for the last 15 years.

"You look at the last World Cup - India took 77 out of 80 wickets. If Bharat Arun's name was someone else, who has played a lot of Test cricket - you would've put him on top of the tree. I don't need to elaborate too much on what he is good at, what are his strengths, it's there for everyone to see," he added.

Shastri was the director of the Indian team when they toured the island nation back in 2015 and he feels a lot has changed both for himself and the team since the last time he was in charge.

"I have matured since I last went to Sri Lanka and I have matured immensely in the last two weeks. Mine will be a refresh button that will be pushed. I don't come with any baggage. The team has done exceedingly well over three years and they are the people who deserve the credit more than anyone else. These Ravi Shastris, Anil Kumbles will come and go. The fabric of Indian cricket will remain. If they are number one today, it's their efforts they have put in over that three-year period and they deserve the credit. People like us will come and go," Shastri concluded.