IPL 2022: Franchises Need To Pick Players Who Can Adapt To Different Conditions - Bharat Arun

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises should be smart and pick players who can adapt to various different conditions in the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction which will take place in Bengaluru on February 12-13.

Recently, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has roped in Bharat Arun as the bowling coach. Arun’s tenure with the Indian team ended after the T20 World Cup 2021, along with the tenures of head coach Ravi Shastri, and fielding coach R Sridhar. While batting coach Vikram Rathour was selected for a second tenure, the remainder of the coaches have gone their own ways.

“You need to pick players who can adapt to different conditions. Even before the pandemic, when you picked bowlers for home conditions, you still needed them to play 7 away games in the IPL. See, with the Indian side, our goal was always to be Number 1 in any conditions,” KKR quoted Bharat Arun as saying.

“To be able to achieve that objective, I think the biggest challenge was to have bowlers who could excel and who could get to 20 wickets in all conditions. We did exactly that, and that’s why we were successful,” he added.

We Need A Bigger Squad Nowadays With Solid Bench Strength: Bharat Arun

Kolkata Knight Riders retained four players with West Indians Andre Russell and Sunil Narine being the two. Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy were the Indian talents the 2012 and 2014 IPL champions retained ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction.

Bharat Arun emphasized on the fact that the franchise needs to build a team with a solid bench strength given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think it is extremely important to build your bench strength and that is one aspect when KKR has excelled. Especially in this pandemic situation, where bubble life is tough, you need back ups for any unforeseen situations. Because of the uncertainties, we need a bigger squad nowadays,” he added.

KKR, who reached the finals of the IPL 2021, will be bidding from a pool of 590 players in the IPL 2022 mega auction.

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