Blessed to have such a good team'

While Karnataka can owe their unprecedented success over the last two seasons to a wonderful generation of cricketers, credit must also be reserved for the two coaches — J Arun Kumar (batting) and Mansoor Ali Khan (bowling).

The two, who were appointed in 2012, have transformed a bunch of hungry young cricketers into a dominant force that has conquered almost everything before them. Delighted after Karnataka warmed-up for the upcoming season with a brilliant win over Bangladesh ‘A’ in Mysuru, Arun Kumar spoke about his role. Excerpts.

How does it feel to be coaching such a champion side?

I am blessed to have such good side. The youngsters are good and we have a very good bench strength. When the bench strength is good, everyone has to be on their toes. If we can keep the boys happy and willing to take on more responsibilities, then it is not a hard job to be honest.

As a batting coach, how do you go about your role in the team?

Lot of people think coaching is all about technique. I think it’s beyond technique. Even the programme I’ve formed is called Beyond Technique. Even a 16-year-old kid knows what a forward defensive shot is. The most difficult thing is for a guy to take in pressure and play one ball at a time in real match situations. You ask the great cricketers and they’ll say playing one ball at a time is the key to success. It’s very important to stay in the present and not start thinking about what’s next.

So is your role more of a mentor then?

We make very little technical changes. I focus on trigger movements, that is the second stance. Once you get into the right second stance, you are in the best position to play the ball. Apart from that, I don’t fiddle on the technical side much because they are already in the middle of season. In the off season, I don't get to see the boys. Any technical work must be done in the off-season. Otherwise, it is about mentoring and giving them confidence, and giving them ideas. Every situation demands a particular way to start the innings, how to handle the wicket etc. I just give a small idea and then back them big time. Me having confidence in my players is as important as they having confidence in me. So it’s pretty transparent that way.

How do you rate this generation as compared to the 90s?

I think this lot is better than our lot. Our lot, obviously, had the big names in 1996. But in 1997-98, we had guys like Anil (Kumble), Rahul (Dravid) and (Javagal) Srinath come towards the end of the season. These kids now are far more professional.  Then we played for passion and for win. But these guys are very meticulous and they put in more hours to cricket. Of course, facilities have improved. Those days, if you wanted to bat for three hours, there were no bowlers.

So I used to pay the bowlers and ask them to bowl to me. But now you have the bowling machine and lots of bowlers enjoy bowling to KL Rahul, Karun Nair or Manish Pandey. These guys can now train for hours together which helps them boost muscle memory. It helps them score big hundreds. We won three times out of four years, which is extremely commendable. We played real hard cricket those days. It was like a birthright for us to go out there and win. I can see the same spirit in this team as well.