The unconventional 'JAK'
Karnataka have gone into the Ranji Trophy final with a remarkable form, that too with a number of youngsters in the side. Many of them attribute their success to their batting coach J Arunkumar
29-Jan-2014
Karnataka have gone into the Ranji Trophy final with a remarkable form, that too with a number of youngsters in the side. Many of them attribute their success to their batting coach J Arunkumar. Nihal Koshie explores the other side of ArunKumar in the Indian Express and what makes the 39-year-old coach different from his conventional counterparts.
Most of the time though, 'JAK', the nickname he goes by, wears the mask of sobriety of a middle-aged cricket coach. On the Harley and showing off his tattoos, however, you could mistake him for a member of the Indian Hell's Angels. But what he likes to be known as is a coach, who has clocked the miles the hard way on the cricket field.
During the 1973-74 season, Karnataka achieved the historic feat of beating heavyweights Bombay in the semi-finals before lifting the trophy in Jaipur a few days later. However, not many may know how the Karnataka players utilised the rest day during the final, which peeved their team manager too. Vedam Jaishankar found out for the Times of India while talking to a few players.
Those days, there was a rest day after three days of play and at a party the visitors were plied with many glasses of bhang, a local drink made from leaves and buds of the cannabis plant. "This bhang hit us very late and very hard. We simply could not stop laughing. Our manager Nagaraj was very angry because he thought we were laughing at him," recalled Jayaprakash.