Kolkata, Jan 14 (Cricket News) Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has now taken up the same role at Kolkata Knight Riders, the IPL franchise announced on Friday.

Making the announcement of his appointment, Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of KKR said, "We are very excited to have someone of the calibre of Bharat Arun joining us as our bowling coach. He will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to KKR's strong support staff. We are delighted to welcome him to the Knight Riders family." Arun was the bowling coach of the Indian team under Ravi Shastri until recently and worked alongside B Sridhar as the fielding coach.

As a player, he represented India in two Tests and four ODIs and was a successful domestic player for Tamil Nadu.

"I'm very excited and looking forward to becoming part of a highly successful franchise, such as the Knight Riders," Arun said in a statement.

"I have admired the Knight Riders franchise for not only being very successful in the IPL and around the world in T20 leagues but also for the way it is very professionally run." Arun started his coaching career with the Tamil Nadu domestic team and became the chief bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

He then took over as head coach of the India Under-19 squad and, under him, India won the U-19 World Cup in 2012 in Australia.

Arun will replace Kyle Mills in the KKR coaching setup under head coach Brendon McCullum.

"A warm welcome to B Arun to the KKR coaching staff. With a strong and successful pedigree in the international game, I'm sure Arun will complement the current staff we have and I look forward to working with him.

"His experience at international level and the ability to give confidence and clarity to our bowling group will be important, as we attempt to quickly align a new group of players to the values and style of play for KKR," McCullum said. 

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News Source : PTI