India vs England: What is The Difference Between Virat Kohli And Ajinkya Rahane as a Leader? Bowling Coach Bharat Arun Explains

India vs England: Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane react differently to different situations, according to India bowling coach Bharat Arun.

India bowling coach Bharat Arun has explained how India captain Virat Kohli and his Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane react emotionally to different match situations. Rahane led India in Kohli’s absence in three of the four Australia Tests, a series the tourists went on to win 2-1 including a memorable three-wicket win in Brisbane.

Arun says while Rahane keeps his emotions in check, never revealing them on his face but inside he’s all nerves of steel. And bowlers don’t get scared because of this but Kohli’s energy is often mistaken for his anger.

“When it comes to Ajinkya, he is a calm person. Rahane might look calm from the outside but there is a steely nerve in him,” Arun told Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube Channel. “He backs players and looks calm and even if a bowler goes wrong, he might not be scared of the captain. He knows that he will be backed.”

“With Virat Kohli, if you bowl two bad balls, it might look like he will get angry, but that’s just his energy. Ajinkya brings the calmness, of course, even if he buys-in the plan, he makes sure he executes it to the T,” Arun added.

Arun drew widespread praise for the manner in which he has shaped Indian bowling attack that held its own despite the gradual loss of first-choice bowlers to injury during the Australia tour. For him, the biggest learning from the tour was that there are several ways of skinning the cat.

“That has to be this tour’s biggest learning,” Arun said. “Instead of imposing it on players, we should make them express themselves. And for anyone to express themselves, there has to be a process. But to define that process and make that player agree on the same is the coach’s top priority.”

But full credit is to the player because, he is the one who goes there and delivers them under pressure and given the experience of our bowling attack, the pressure is immense. To perform under pressure is the challenge. And our players accomplished that challenge exceptionally well. They saw that challenge as an opportunity,” he added.

The 58-year-old revealed that India head coach Ravi Shastri is someone who believes in drying up the run and hates when bowlers concede boundaries. “He (Shastri) will follow the match from the dressing room. But he absolutely hates it when a bowler concedes a boundary. He doesn’t want bowlers to concede a run,” Arun said.

He continued, “That’s what he wants. When we bowl, we should keep on taking wickets. And when they are bowling, we should keep on scoring runs. If someone concedes two boundaries, he will shout. If someone concedes a boundary, I know that I am going to be shouted at.”