Who is Bharat Arun? Why was Ravi Shastri so keen to appoint him as bowling coach over Zaheer Khan?

New Delhi: Clearing the long-due question mark over who Team India's next bowling coach would be, Ravi Shastri, on Tuesday, announced the appointment of Bharat Arun as his full-time bowling coach while also retaining Sanjay Bangar and R Sridhar as other members of his support staff.

Earlier, the Cricket Advisory Committe (CAC) had paired the names of Zaheer Khan (bowling coach) and Rahul Dravid (overseas batting consultant for Tests), as they announced Shastri as Anil Kumble's replacement. But Shastri, today, clarified in the press conference that Zaheer and Dravid's inputs will be invaluable to the team, however, he refused to define a set role for the duo.

As Bharat Arun's appointment gets confirmed, here's a brief look at who the new Indian bowling coach is and what his credentials are:

Born in Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh, Arun played first-class cricket for Tamil Nadu at the age of 20. A medium-pacer by trait, Arun had a good first-class record and has also played a key role in Tamil Nadu's Ranji Trophy win in 1986-87. 

He made his international debut in the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at Kanpur on 17 December 1986. He also played an ODI in the same series.

All in all, he only lasted for 6 matches in the Indian team. However, he continued to played for Tamil Nadu until 1992, before quitting cricket. 

Arun started his coaching career with Tamil Nadu's Ranji side in 2002 and put in-charge of the side until 2006. Under him, the team witnessed drastic improvement and reached the final twice. 

Arun was also named the chief bowling coach at the National Cricket Academy for a few years, before he was handed the responsibility of grooming the India Under-19 squad. Arun played a big role in helping the team win the World Cup in 2012, before joining Kings XI Punjab as the assistant coach for IPL-7.

He was named as the bowling coach of India's national cricket team in 2014-16, while Shastri was in-charge as team director.