JAK and MAK of Karnataka cricket

Jagadeesh Arunkumar and Mansur Ali Khan were room-mates while playing for Karnataka in the 1990s and went on to win three Ranji Trophy titles (1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99) during their cricketing career, and now, the duo, as coaches of the Karnataka cricket team have added two more to their kitty the latest being the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy title.

Arunkumar was a flamboyant opener as a player, and even now that flair is still intact. Donning a handlebar moustache, JAK, as he is popularly known, can be mostly seen with his sunglasses on, talking animatedly to the guy next to him. Mansur or MAK a fast bowler during his playing days is, however, polar opposite. He is seen only before and after the end of day's play, helping JAK with the fielding drills and is such a soft-spoken guy that one has to really keep an ear out when conversing with him. Even while talking to the players, he is as calm and collected as a cucumber.

Yet, the two have gelled so well and also have been able to keep the Karnataka unit together. Both emphasise that team unity is the biggest strength of this Karnataka outfit, in unison. "MAK and I are like couple of old shoes, we are very comfortable with each other, we slip in and get along just like that," is how JAK describes their partnership.

And it is no surprise that their camaraderie is what reflects in the team as well. While JAK says "Positive energy and team bonding has been the real key for the team's success," MAK adds, "What we tried to do was to bring positive energy to the team". Once again, they are on the same page.

Arunkumar played 109 first-class games and scored 7,208 first-class runs at an average of 42.90 and also hit centuries in two of the finals that Karnataka won, while MAK could represent Karnataka in only 24 first-class games taking 78 wickets at an average of 25.37. As he himself admits, playing in an era when Karnataka had at their disposal a heavy arsenal of fast bowlers in the form of Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, David Johnson and Dodda Ganesh, being part of the playing XI on a regular basis was really tough.

Nevertheless, after retiring from active cricket in 2001, he concentrated on his job at the Canara bank before deciding to purse his love for coaching. "Whatever I do, I do it with my heart, I should be happy doing that and I am happy doing this right now," says MAK. "There has to be joy and then only you will perform, be it as a coach or a player. I am enjoying coaching now, it has become a habit for me, and I feel I am able to impart my knowledge in the best way possible."

JAK too came into the setup alongside MAK, but coaching was not new for him. Playing in the KPL (Karnataka Premier League), the opener had taken his team, the Belgavi Panthers to the final surprising many in 2009. He was the captain and coach for the Panthers and walked away with the Man of the Series award for that year.

Talking to JAK during a league match against Madhya Pradesh, he had said that he keeps things simple when it comes to coaching, and his priority is to keep the bunch's confidence high. After the Karnataka's win over Tamil Nadu in the final, MAK had similar things to say.

"This year a lot of youngsters delivered. Samarth got into very good form at the right time and all these guys peaked at the right time, and once he got runs other guys got confidence that it is no that hard to gets runs and that kind of confidence spreads and that has really helped us." MAK says that key to Karnataka's success has been healthy competition, "It is because of healthy competition. Look at our bowling attack, we have Vinay, Mithun and Arvind. Arvind is coming back after two years. We have Sharath, who had played in this year's Duleep Trophy and had to warm the benches quite a lot. We have Ronit More as well, so there is a lot of healthy competition and if you have this level of competitiveness everybody is eager to perform and every one in the team is in that frame of mind."

Confidence, positive energy and some stellar performances have seen Karnataka stretch their unbeaten streak in Ranji Trophy to 28. Vinay Kumar has led from the front, finishing the tournament as the joint-highest wicket-taker with 48 scalps, while Robin Uthappa leads the run-getters tally with 912 runs. Triple centuries by Karun Nair and KL Rahul, Sreenath Arvind's hat-trick, CM Gautam and Sheryas Gopal's match-saving innings have helped Karnataka clinch their eighth title, but it is the flamboyance and calmness of JAK and MAK that is making this team an unstoppable juggernaut.