J Arun Kumar appointed batting coach for the Kings XI Punjab
What’s the story?
Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab have appointed Karnataka head coach J Arun Kumar as their batting coach for the upcoming season of the League. The 42-year-old, who has had a successful time with Karnataka in First-Class cricket, having guided them to consecutive trebles in the 2013-14 and 2-14-15 seasons, revealed that he was in touch with the Head of Operations for the team Virender Sehwag with whom he played in the Indian Airlines team, regarding a possible opportunity to work in any aspect with the team.
“It is a good learning curve for me. It is always good to interact with different heads and talk to the players. Sehwag and the franchise team are coming on the 19th for the IPL auctions; we will meet then and discuss the way forward. It is a whole new experience. It will take my coaching to a different level. I am looking forward to it.
"(The discussions were on) for over a month before I got a call officially and things fell in place. I had asked him (Sehwag) last year to let me know if there was an opportunity. So, he called me up and offered this. It was very nice of him,” The coach told ESPN Cricinfo.
Arun Kumar replaces Sanjay Bangar in the role of the batting coach for the team.
In case you didn’t know
After having played a combined total of 109 matches for Karnataka, South Zone and India A during the course of his career, Arun Kumar took up the role of a batting coach with his state side in 2012 and was elevated to the head coach position at the start of the next season.
The team began his tenure on a dream note, winning the Ranji Trophy title by beating Maharashtra in the final and then claimed the Irani Cup at home before winning the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.
The following season, Karnataka repeated the feat, by beating Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy final before winning the Irani Cup as well as the Vijay Hazare Trophy, for the second year in a row.
What’s next?
The first objective for Arun Kumar would be to help Sehwag and co. pick some key players in the IPL auction, scheduled in Bengaluru on the 20th of February. The Punjab-based franchise have endured a tough time in the past few years, having finished as the wooden spooners in the last two seasons and hopefully, the decision to rope in Arun Kumar will help them get some players, who will make the difference.
Sportskeeda’s take
The signing of Arun Kumar is an indication that Indian coaches are being looked out from the domestic circuit, which is always a good sign. Last season as well, we saw teams having Indians holding important positions in the support staff.
Sitanshu Kotak was a part of the Gujarat Lions support staff, Hrishikesh Kanitkar featured in the Rising Pune Supergiants setup as did Bharat Arun, who was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore support staff.
This is certainly a good trend to see and hopefully, a few more teams also rope in domestic coaches into their setup in the near future.