The 26-year-old led India in the first Test against Australia at Adelaide in December last year in the absence of regular skipper MS Dhoni and following the 33-year-old’s retirement from Test cricket, Kohli took over as the full-time captain of India in the fourth and final Test at Sydney in January this year.

“He (Virat) has immense passion for the game. He has a good work ethic and is always keen to learn and improve. I am sure he would come out with flying colours in the IPL,” Arun said in an interview to the New Indian Express.

“He understands it. He is passionate about the game. He is not selfish. He thinks and has time for other members of the team. He’s spot on technically too, be it field settings, bowling changes or strategies.''

Bowlers deserve credit, says Arun

Taking about the impressive showing of the Indian bowlers at the 2015 World Cup, the 52-year-old said that the bowlers deserve a lot of credit for their resurgence and added that while they bowled well in patches during the Tests, their consistency levels were a lot higher during the mega event. He also praised the team in totality for making such a strong comeback after going through a tough time in Australia, prior to the quadrennial event.

“Full credit to the bowlers who made a remarkable comeback in the World Cup, which made everybody sit up and take notice. Our bowlers showed lot of character, pluck and resolve. In fact, even in the Test series they were good in patches. But in the World Cup they combined well and bowled as a unit with consistency.

“It was a wonderful performance by our team. None were willing to back us at the start of the tournament. To come back and play the way they did as a unit was incredible,” he said.

Arun rubbishes claims that players will be jaded

Arun was appointed as the assistant coach of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore last month and when asked about the team’s chances this year, he said they have a lot of experience at their disposal and felt that the players wouldn’t be jaded after going through a long World Cup down under.

“We have an abundance of talent and experienced players such as Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Darren Sammy and Mitchell Starc. Many have led their countries and some have been in great form in the World Cup. All this will help our team. It is a challenge for us (coaches) to channelise their energies.

“All are professional players. There is a break between the World Cup and IPL. All the players have the schedule beforehand,” he added.

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