Bharat Arun named LSG bowling coach

Bharat Arun is the new bowling coach of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) ahead of IPL 2026, the franchise confirmed on Wednesday. Arun's new role brings an end to his four-year tenure as a bowling consultant with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Arun is likely to have an expanded role within the LSG set-up - responsible for scouting and overseeing the year-round development of their young quicks.

"It's an honour to join the Lucknow Super Giants, a franchise that reflects professionalism, ambition, and vision at every level," Arun said in a statement. "My conversations with Dr. Sanjiv Goenka and the management were incredibly energizing - there is a clear intent to invest in young Indian talent and build a long-term legacy.

"What excites me most is the vision for long-term development. LSG has invested in a young, talented, and dynamic group of Indian fast bowlers - Akash deep, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Mohsin Khan, and Akash Singh - and I see immense potential in each of them. My mission is to help shape them into a cohesive, fearless, and tactically sharp pace unit that can challenge the best batting line-ups in the world."

LSG are also set to bring in Carl Crowe as spin consultant. Crowe is credited to have helped Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine in their bowling reinvention during his time at KKR. LSG are likely to make a formal announcement soon.

Arun's role was previously managed by former India pacer Zaheer Khan, their team mentor in IPL 2025. LSG failed to make the playoffs and finished seventh.

At KKR, Arun was originally contracted for three years, before he was offered an extension for another season that took him up to the end of IPL 2025, where KKR finished eighth.

Arun's exit is part of a wider support-staff overhaul at KKR. On Tuesday, the franchise had announced that head coach Chandrakant Pandit had chosen to part ways with the team. At the time, there was no formal announcement of Arun's exit.

Arun comes with a solid body of work, having had two fruitful stints with the Indian team, first from 2014-2015 and, more recently, from 2017 to 2021. In between, he was also part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) backroom between 2015 and 2017.