Positive approach key to Karnataka's success

The Karnataka juggernaut continues to roll on in the Indian domestic circuit. The team claimed their second consecutive Ranji Trophy title beating Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs on Thursday, taking the tally to eight - the second best in Ranji history after Mumbai. A star-studded team, Karnataka do have the luxury of having five players who have represented India at various junctures of their career, but that does not take anything away from the youngsters who have, more often than not, stolen the limelight from their more illustrious team-mates throughout the season.

While the right mix of experienced players and the brightest prospects in the Indian domestic circuit has been the key for Karnataka's dominance, equally important has been the management of the team and its players. That aspect has been taken care of by Jagadeesh Arunkumar and Mansur Ali Khan, both former Karnataka players and now batting and bowling coach respectively. The duo has been successful in moulding the young talents like KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal and HS Sharath and has given enough freedom to the likes of Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun to thrive.

Cricbuzz.com caught up with the bowling coach Mansur Ali Khan as he talked about his camaraderie with Arunkumar and the secret behind Karnataka's success among other things.

Arunkumar and you joined the Karnataka coaching staff in 2012-13 and you both have transformed the team in these three years, how did you guys do it?

We have been roommates during our playing days. If I am not wrong, he made his debut in 1993, and I in 1995. I did play the one-dayers in 1993, but my first-class debut came two years later. So we didn't have any problem gelling together. We had played together, so the communication process was really smooth.

There was obviously a lot of pressure coming in to the set-up as a coach and the first and foremost thing we tried to do was to bring positive energy to the team. During the 1990s we had that energy as a bunch and we used to play as a team. When we started, we did feel that the boys are not giving their 100 per cent as a team.

Individually they were doing well and taking their performance to the next level, but cricket is a team sport and all the 11 members have to contribute; be it fielding, bowling or batting, that is what makes a team successful. A player after scoring a century or after taking five wickets obviously will start thinking about their performance more. We changed that attitude and brought a different mindset to the team.

Karnataka's bowling has really been the talking point this season. What will you attribute the bowlers' success to?

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.

We have a history of producing fast bowlers. In the 90s, we had [Javagal] Srinath, [Venkatesh] Prasad, David Johnson and Dodda Ganesh, and someone like me was warming the benches at that time. We got fewer chances and whatever chances we got, we had to grab those opportunities and you can see the same thing working here as well.

When we last won the Ranji Trophy in consecutive years, Srinath, Prasad and David actually played fewer games and yet we went on to win. That was because the other guys who got the chance used to take the responsibility. Even now if somebody gets injured, the replacement will come in and has to perform straight away in order to make a mark.

You talked about Sharath and as a bowling coach how do you motivate a guy who has performed whenever he has got a chance to play, yet does not feature consistently in the playing XI?

The thing is we don't tell them that they are dropped, the motivation is like we tell them they are rested. We have a strong bench strength. I can tell you for sure that our bench strength can fit in to any team in India, and they will play all the games, But, only 11 can play at a time and we pick the best XI according to the conditions and the wicket. We are very honest in selection and these guys also know it. And their body language outside as well, you can see they remain upbeat. It shows that they want the team to do well; ultimately team comes first and that atmosphere is being created in the team.

What are the key areas that you ask your bowlers to work on?

Basically it is very simple. Nowadays you see modern cricketers coming up with a lot of innovative shots, but the basics remain the same. Same holds true for bowlers as well. The more you make the batsman play, the more opportunity to get wickets, as simple as that.

Karnataka have been on a roll but can they challenge Mumbai's dominance in Ranji Trophy in the coming years?

If we respect our cricket, we will definitely dominate in the coming years and we need to be there every time. Management has been really helpful for us, they want the boys to be comfortable and perform and we will have to give our best every time as a team.