On a mist-wrapped Thursday morning, J. Arunkumar stayed glued to the television at his villa here on Sarjapur Road, that leads towards the Tamil Nadu border.
The former Karnataka skipper and current batting coach felt vindicated as his ward K.L. Rahul etched a maiden Test ton in Sydney.
Arunkumar laughed heartily, and when asked for his initial thoughts, he said: “I am elated; I woke up early and watched every ball. Excellent knock, he had a bit of luck, but you need that. He was so composed and after the first two overs, I knew this was the KL we all know. It was a typical KL knock with more than 200 deliveries faced.”
Technical expertiseAn attacking opener in his prime, Arunkumar, who played for India ‘A’ in the past, lauded Rahul’s technical expertise that helped the youngster excel for Karnataka in the last Ranji season with a whopping 1,033 runs.
“He plays close to his body, moves his feet very well and has the ability to move both feet. Not all do that, some move their left feet well, some their right feet. But, Rahul does both well. He is also good with his forward defence,” Arunkumar said.
But what went wrong in Rahul’s debut Test (3 & 1) at Melbourne? Arunkumar attributed it to a touch of nerves.
“As for his debut Test, I thought he was nervous, he expected a bit too much from himself, it happens when you are a nervous debutant, it wasn’t the KL we know,” the coach said, and added: “We (Karnataka team) were all praying for him. I am extremely happy for him.”
Rahul, whose WhatsApp status is ‘eat, sleep, train, repeat’, has indeed made Karnataka, on a roll with four consecutive triumphs this Ranji season, proud.
