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It smells like a team

cricket
Last Updated 07 December 2019, 19:41 IST

Winning finals seems to be in the DNA of Karnataka senior cricket team. In the last seven seasons, they have entered 10 finals across formats and not once have they settled for a runner-up finish.

Their thrilling one-run win over arch-rivals Tamil Nadu in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy title clash last week should put any remaining doubts about Karnataka’s big-match ability to rest. More importantly, their 10th title reiterated the fact that Karnataka are this decade’s best domestic side.

Mumbai, never to be written off, have produced exceptional talents and won three championships in the period. The recent rise of Vidarbha has instilled belief in teams with fewer stars to punch above their weights and aim for the biggest prize. But for their sheer dominance, the exciting brand of cricket and the kind of players that have emerged through their success, Karnataka have been in a league of their won.

Karnataka ended a 14-year-wait for a Ranji Trophy in the 2013-14 season. Until then, teams looked at Karnataka in a certain manner, says J Arun Kumar, who along with bowling coach Mansur Ali Khan, guided Karnataka to the famous double-treble from 2013-15.

“The common opinion was that Karnataka is a great team that doesn’t know to how to make it big. After we won the Ranji Trophy in 1999 under Sunil Joshi’s captaincy, we hadn’t won anything. Karnataka couldn’t hold their nerve, often fizzling out after reaching knockouts,” Arun Kumar tells DH.

Bringing in young blood was the first step towards the new direction. Arun Kumar, who coached the Karnataka U-23 side, recognised gifted players who had hunger to succeed. The likes of K L Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, R Samarth and Shreyas Gopal broke into the senior side and brought in fresh energy with them.

“It is in the behaviour,” says Arun Kumar on why he trusted these upcoming players. “I looked at the demeanour and how confident these boys were. Say somebody like Samarth. He was very focused on his cricket and on his day, he wouldn’t throw his wicket away. K Gowtham was a quiet person but we knew how extremely talented he was with his fingers. Shreyas was a batsman but we wanted him to predominantly bowl because that was his role and he was up for it. So these were a bunch of guys between 18 and 22 years ready to take any risk,” explains the former Karnataka skipper.

Enviable talent pool

With an enviable talent pool, Karnataka adopted a fearless brand of cricket to dominate the best sides in the country. “We started playing to win,” points out Arun Kumar. “In my time, players like Kumble (Anil), Rahul (Dravid), Joshi (Sunil), Ganesh (Dodda), Venky (Venkatesh Pradesh), Srinath (Javagal), Sujith (Somasundar), myself and Vijay (Bharadwaj) aimed for victories and nothing else. We were positive cricketers enjoying each others’ company.

“But when I took over as coach, the trend in the Karnataka team was to play safe and players were selfish. This had to change. Someone like KL (Rahul) was a 200-ball century player. We knew with the kind of talent he has, he can play for India with improved strike rate. He soon changed into an aggressive player,” says Arun.

In the next two years, Karnataka clinched six titles -- winning the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani Cup twice each -- to become the undisputed champions in India. They were no longer the also-rans. “In that phase, Karnataka walked into a game with 20 per cent advantage. They had the same intimidating factor of Bombay (Mumbai) of the old,” he says.

“We enjoy each others’ success”, was the common response from the Karnataka players as they hogged the limelight. “Camaraderie was the most important aspect,” emphasises Arun Kumar. “A happy team is a winning team. After matches, we had house parties, played football and laughed together. Of course, earlier, back-biting existed. When a player would complain about another player, I would dismiss him off saying I have a brain of my own to assess the situation. We even fired many players who spoke ill about others,” he says.

Cricket is a great leveller and Karnataka expectedly suffered the inevitable fall from the top. Their 37-match unbeaten streak in the Ranji Trophy came to an end in the 2015-16 season. Karnataka returned empty handed in every tournament they played for the two seasons. With players like Rahul, Manish Pandey, Stuart Binny and Nair donning the India jerseys, Karnataka failed to have a settled line-up.”

Legacy cannot be overlooked in sports. Karnataka ended the title-drought with their Vijay Hazare Trophy triumph in 2017-18. After R Vinay Kumar handed over the captaincy baton to Pandey, Karnataka were once again Vijay Hazare champions this year and became the first team to win the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy twice in a row.

Dawn of Pandey

R Vinay Kumar, who led Karnataka’s golden generation, felt the dawn of Pandey era has arrived in Karnataka. “As a captain, I believed in leading by example. That’s what Manish is doing too,” reasons Vinay. “Ever since he was made the captain, he has been making big contributions,” says Vinay, who has now moved on to Puducherry.

Arun Kumar too had words of praise for Pandey. “Your nature reflects in your captaincy. Pandey is a positive person. If the team is 0/2, Manish Pandey will hit the first ball for six. He is different and if you want to be a winning team, you have to do things differently,” he points out.

While they have asserted their supremacy in white-ball cricket, Karnataka’s wait for their ninth Ranji Trophy continues. Ahead of a fresh season, there are quite a few challenges for the Southern giants. An inexperienced pace attack will be tested. During Karnataka’s ruthless dominance in Ranji six years ago, the enviable pace battery of Vinay, Abhimanyu Mithun and S Arvind found ways to pick 20 wickets on all kinds of tracks.

“We need to recreate that pace pack,” says Vinay. “Prasidh (Krishna) is good and I have seen V Koushik bowl with the red ball and he is impressive too. Once Mithun is back, it will be a stable attack.”

Arun Kumar has high regards for Prasidh. “Prasidh will be the next Karnataka player in the Indian team. He will be the key for Karnataka this time.”

With many youngsters showing promise, Vinay felt Karnataka must focus on giving them long run. “You need to trust your players. A fixed combination provides good results. In 2014 when we won the Ranji Trophy, Karun, till the final, had an ordinary season. But we kept faith in him and he struck a triple century in the final,” says Karnataka’s most successful skipper.

With seniors like Pandey, Rahul and Agarwal likely to miss out during various stages due to national commitments, the onus is on youngsters to step up, feels current coach Yere Goud. “If somebody gets a position to bat, he must adapt to it and succeed in that position. Last season, these youngsters showed they are ready for first-class cricket. We have picked players with certain combinations in mind. We hope it works,” offers Goud.

For now, the smiles are back on the players and the ardent Karnataka fans would want nothing less than a Ranji Trophy and complete another treble.

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(Published 07 December 2019, 17:38 IST)

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