'We are confident about our unit'

Arun expects strong show in quarters

Karnataka have qualified for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals as the top side from Group A with 33 points. But their rampant run was somewhat sullied by the two mini setbacks against Baroda and Mumbai, matches in which the defending champions conceded first-innings lead.

But, batting coach J Arun Kumar was not unduly worried and expressed confidence that his wards would step on the pedal in the knockouts.
Excerpts:

On the campaign so far:

We wanted to give everybody a chance so once we get to the knock-outs. We would know whom to field according to the conditions. I am happy with the way the campaign has shaped up, some of the players have done really well. R Samarth batted superbly (180 against Mumbai) and Shishir Bhavane played with so much confidence in his debut (62 against Mumbai) as if he already had played for 10 years. We didn’t want to overload our fast bowlers till we get to the knock-outs and so we played around with our five-bowler combination. Now we can either have an extra seamer or an extra spinner or an extra batsman. We can even step in with four seamers if the conditions demand that. We are confident about our unit.

On the mood in the camp:

Yes, after the initial wins and a quarterfinal berth was secured, the boys looked a bit complacent and that was bound to happen plus there were not enough challenges for them. But now everyone is on their toes, everyone wants to give their 100 per cent and we look at this phase as the last three games of our season and want to go all out.

On the quarterfinal tie against Assam:

We will be positive against Assam in the quarterfinal and it helps that we already played a game at Indore (against Madhya Pradesh) this  season and so we know the conditions.
On Shreyas Gopal’s performance: When he was young, he was a pure batsman who could bowl a bit of leg-spin like Amit Verma. But as he grew he changed a bit and it suited us, to have a spinner, who will take wickets in the middle overs, break partnerships. Now that he has contributed with the bat, it has strengthened us further and we look at him as a batsman who will score.

On Karun Nair’s poor form:

I think Karun started to look too far ahead, like playing for the country which we too did in our playing days. He just needs to enjoy his game, not put too much pressure on himself and get back to the basics.
DH News Service