Steps to the pinnacle

Cricket : Beyond the pile of runs and wickets, Karnataka owed their Ranji triumph to a few extra factors

First, let’s quickly paddle through the obvious. Robin Uthappa made 912 runs to become the highest run-getter in the just concluded Ranji Trophy season. The three pace bowlers – R Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and S Arvind – grabbed 129 wickets together.

K L Rahul played just five matches this season, owing to his call-up to the Indian Test side. But he amassed 838 runs at 93.11. Shreyas Gopal made a striking presence with his all-round skills – 663 runs and 28 wickets.

Yes, each of those factors had played a significant role in Karnataka retaining the Ranji Trophy. Then there are some less obvious points. You might have observed them casually. You possibly had discussed them at some point of time. But you might just have forgotten them in the euphoria of Karnataka winning their second successive Ranji title. So, let’s have a glance back at them.

Vinay, the captain

Vinay is inconspicuous till he comes to bowl. It’s a little tough to spot him on the field other times. He hardly engages himself in animated discussions with other bowlers. Seldom does he express his displeasure if a catch is dropped or a stumping is missed. At times you will see him with his hands on his head. Perhaps, the clearest sign of his disappointment. But that passiveness is so misleading.

Vinay is an observant captain. He is excellent at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the rivals. He also has a commanding grip over his team without being an authoritarian leader. Is it tough then to do the dual duty of captain and the strike bowler? “When I took over captaincy, I told myself that when I am bowling, I am first a bowler. When I finish bowling, I will think about strategy as a captain. Take the extra responsibility, and in a crunch situation, perform for the team. Yes, there is more pressure but I am enjoying it,” said Vinay. His ability to compartmentalise has served Karnataka cricket well.

The Gautam effect

Nintey-seven, 69, 153, 83. Karnataka were struggling in their first innings when they lost their fifth wicket in their initial four matches. They needed a firefighter. CM Gautam answered the call with knocks of 93, 63, 64, and 80. Since then, he made only one more fifty, a 57 against Uttar Pradesh to end the season with 477 runs from 10 matches. Now, those numbers don’t sparkle like the figures touched by some of his teammates. But the wicketkeeper batsman played a big role in keeping Karnataka ahead of the competition in the early rounds.

Gautam detailed the phase when he shouldered Karnataka’s campaign. “Mostly I had to bat with late-order batsmen in that period. But I always enjoyed tackling pressure. The key is not to think about the score, and just take it as a battle between bat and ball. It is challenging to bat with late-order. During that time the field will be spread to take me off the strike and attack the late-order batsmen, and because of that even if you play a good shot, you won’t get full value.

But if you are batting with a proper batsman then the field will be up, and you will get full value of the shot. So, when batting with tailenders, I need to take some risks to get that odd boundary. But our lower-order batsmen are also capable of getting some runs, so I can play a bit more easily,” said Gautam.He may not have topped the run-makers’ list but Gautam’s value is beyond numbers.

Fitness mantra

For the last three seasons, Karnataka have rarely lost a player for a long period to injuries, allowing them the luxury of continuity. On the other hand, teams like Mumbai and Bengal had to bench key players like Wasim Jaffer and Manoj Tiwary due to injuries at various times. For having a full-strength squad at their disposal on most occasions, Karnataka need to thank Shravan (physio) and Prashant Pujar (trainer).

Shravan explained his work. “The players work ethics are good. You just need to guide them in the right way. Seniors like Vinay and Robin know their body well. The junior players…many of them have come through the under-13 programme in NCA and the KSCA Academy. They have already gone through many fitness programmes like muscular strength training and diet counseling.

“Their calorie balancing is very good. They are also aware of the rehab packages,” Shravan said.

He also lauded the willingness of Karnataka players to extend themselves in search of top level of fitness. “I have worked with other teams like Goa, and then I was part of a couple of NCA camps. You need to guide them from square one. But with Karnataka cricketers you just need to give only simple advice. The season for them has started in mid-October and they have two more tournaments left. It involves a lot of training to remain fit for such a long time, and these guys are mentally prepared to go through that grind,” said Shravan.It’s not surprising, then, to see a mentally and physically agile team trampling the opposition.

United we stand

It was a tad surprising to see Mayank Agarwal, Ronit More, Kunal Kapoor and Abrar Kazi at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. After all, they were not part of the 16-man squad for the Ranji final against Tamil Nadu. But the Karnataka State Cricket Association ensured that those four players, who had their own roles in the State’s dominant run, were there at the venue to savour the triumph.

It’s hard to find such camaraderie in the competitive world of modern sport. Batting coach J Arun Kumar said they made a conscious effort to build the togetherness. "We all get together very well. Even when there is no match, we all get together at Robin's or my house and have a good time. There is a sense of family in the team," said Arun.

Mumbai realised it the hard way during a league match at the Wankhede when Karnataka players kept on sledging Siddesh Lad after the Mumbaikar threw the ball at Gautam. Lad did not have a moment of respite even during the semifinal at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. "We have each other's backs. You cannot say one thing to us — you will have 16-17 guys after your life,” said Uthappa asserting the closeness within the team.Beware the next time when you sledge a Karnataka player!

The right selection

What could be the easiest job on earth now? Being a Karnataka selector? They have a wide pool of talented players to choose from and they hardly face any fitness or disciplinary issues. And they are on a winning streak. Perhaps, it helped that R Sudhakar Rao (chairman), Brijesh Patel (secretary, KSCA) and Sanjay Desai were contemporaries during their playing days, while Dodda Ganesh and Fazal Khaleel too had shared the dressing room. There would have been disagreements among them, like it would happen in any group of individuals. But they found a way to get over it, focusing on the good of the State.

Karun Nair’s lack of runs before that triple hundred in the final would have been one of them. Fazal dwelt upon it. “We were sure that Karun would understand the flow of success and failure. Some players would struggle to adapt to failure after big success. But he managed it only in his second year at this level. But all the while we were certain about his class and persisted with him. We were all on the same page, the selectors and the team management. We always wanted to play him. As Greg Chappell said, you can’t make runs from the stands and for that you need to be in the middle,” said Fazal.

Fazal then went deep into their vision for Karnataka cricket. “We want to invest in young guys who have the potential to take Karnataka cricket forward and then eventually go and play for India. We believe that a lot of these boys have that ability,” he added.
Their faith has been repaid in gold.