JAK-pot time for USA! J Arun Kumar eyes an enriching experience as national cricket coach of America

Bengaluru, April 29: J Arun Kumar had left some indelible marks as a player and a coach for Karnataka. JAK, as he is fondly called, was an aggressive opening batsman who was at the forefront of many victories of the state and he did an encore during his stint as the coach.

Under his guidance, Karnataka achieved a grand treble - Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani Cup - in two successive seasons - 2013-14 and 2014-15. Some of the youngsters like KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair took their first step to stardom under Arun Kumar. Apart from Karnataka, he also had coaching stints with Kings XI Punjab in the IPL, Hyderabad and Puducherry.

ALSO READ: J ARUN KUMAR APPOINTED USA CRICKET TEAM COACH

But now, Arun has another challenge, in fact a first in his coaching career. He has been appointed as the coach of the USA national cricket team. "It was a tedious and extensive process. I came across the opportunity in their official website and made the application. I went through all the protocols. Obviously, it is going to be a new challenge for me as a coach as I will be managing an international but I am certainly looking forward to it," Arun told MyKhel.

As of now, Arun will be confined to his home in Bengaluru courtesy the travel restrictions forced by the Coronavirus outbreak. But before that, he had visited Texas, US, for 10 days in March to monitor a training camp. "The Covid-19 crisis has presented some challenges around the scope of the role in the short and medium term, but we look forward to completing the arrangements and welcoming him more formally in due course," said USA Cricket CEO Ian Higgins.

Once the formalities are completed Arun will have a few challenges to surmount. The most significant of them will be an infrastructure system, one that is vastly different from India. Arun is aware of it. "Yes, it (infrastructure) is different from what I am familiar with in India. But they (USA) are making some big steps forward like building six new stadiums. And in terms of talent, USA is a diversified nation and their biggest challenge is shortage of match practice.

"We have to ensure that all the opportunities are availed to tide over it. There is not dearth of talent in US as there are lot of Indians, West Indians and people from other Asian nations etc and the awareness about cricket among them is immense. At the moment, the locals have not really picked up on cricket but once that happened the sport will surge ahead. You know once the natives pick it up, the visibility factor will be high," he said.

There is another dimension to his new job. The USA has a rich sporting culture with disciplines like rugby, basketball, baseball, football and several Olympic sports jostling for space. Hence, the country is a hub of top-notch coaches. Arun is excited at the possibility of having an interaction with them, and adding new contours to his own ability.

"Absolutely. USA is majorly into sports, and it is a religion there. I am looking forward to exchange ideas with some top-of-the-shelf coaches from other sports too, which I think will help me develop as a coach. It's a big opportunity for me and I want to use it to the hilt," said Arun.

Arun will also face the challenge of managing a team that is certain to have members coming from vastly different background, considering social structure of USA. It's a major deviation from his previous coaching jobs where he generally dealt with players from the same state having similar social background and ethnicity.

However, Arun had a glimpse of multi-cultural team composition during his stint with the Kings XI in the IPL. "I had to coach players coming from different countries and states at the IPL. I think that experience moulded my coaching structure. I am confident that I can do that job with the USA too. Of course, the experience of coaching different states too will stand in good stead," said Arun.