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S Arvind: The fighter leaves ring but second innings not too far

Karnataka pacer S Arvind kept his focus amidst a plethora of injuries that plagued him to stitch together a successful career

S Arvind played a big role in Karnataka achieving success in domestic cricket

Bengaluru, March 29: It's hard to miss the brio in the voice of S Arvind. Laughter and that archetypal Kannada sentence-ending 'alva' (isn't it) accompany every answer.

That cheery face actually hides a tough fighter. Arvind, who retired from first-class cricket after Karnataka won this year's Vijay Hazare Trophy beating Saurashtra, battled constantly against injuries during his career as a left-arm pacer for Karnataka.

Remind him about those struggles against injuries, Arvind goes silent for a moment before begins in a rather grim voice - a rarity. "Look, injuries do happen to every sportsperson. In my case, unfortunately, injuries came at the wrong time and they persisted," Arvind told Mykhel.

The 33-year-old then described the long road he took to recovery and then to the field.

"After the first knee injury, I went to see doctors and they told me: 'you forget about cricket and think of a different career.'" Those were tough days. But Arvind found right people at this crucial juncture.

"Physio Muthu Kumar did a fantastic job with me. I had also consulted Dr David Rajan in Coimbatore who motivated me to keep the cricket career going. Then Muthu Kumar helped me with my rehab for three and half months. There was a minor surgery to fill the cartilage but the ligament was not there. I played for five years without ligament.

"Dr David Rajan had given me two years but with rehab I played for five years. Training and rehab were really painful but I stayed strong keeping the dream of playing cricket.

"But after five years, PLC (The side ligament) too wore away and I approached physio Evan Speechley (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and he told me to consult Dr Mark Ferguson in South Africa. I underwent a surgery under his supervision and he repaired my knee and made me game ready.

"Then back in India, physio Shravan helped me further. Now, my knee is perfect. I can play for another couple of years but as I said the time has come for me to step away and give chance to youngsters." His voice has returned to its sprightly best by now.

Even though Arvind could only play a one-off T20I for India, he was an important cog in the wheel for Karnataka, especially during the two seasons they swept away all the trophies in view in Indian domestic cricket.

More often than not, Arvind was the one-change bowler behind skipper R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. In Indian domestic circuit, the third seamer often gets under utilised behind two frontline pacers and spinners largely because of the conditions.

However, Arvind said being a left armer gave him bit of an edge and bowling alongside Vinay and Mithun only strengthened him as a bowler.

S Arvind and R Vinay Kumar: Perfect partners

"We peaked as a group during those two seasons (2013-14, 2014-15) when we won almost all the domestic trophies. That was tremendous for me as a player and team man.

"In fact, playing with them (Vinay and Mithun)...was a learning experience. They were the strike bowlers and I came in as one-change. As the third seamer, I had to remain very competitive and always spot on. But it was a bit easy for me to come and bowl as a third bowler after the opposition had lost two or three wickets.

"At times, I bowled with the new ball and then my duty was to give early breakthroughs and I am quite happy that I managed both the roles well. But my main role was that of a one-change bowler and I proved that he too can take wickets and put the opposition under pressure.

"See, in domestic cricket your two strike bowlers and spinners often get more overs and the one-change bowler tends to get under bowled. But being a left-arm bowler, I offered a different dimension to the attack and I think that gave me a little advantage," said Arvind, who took 54 wickets across formats during those two memorable seasons.

Arvind also credited his stint with RCB for becoming a better bowler.

"Playing in the IPL changed me as a bowler. For someone like me, it was a chance to perform in front of a bigger audience. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to play alongside players such as Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson etc, and they were all wonderful persons.

S Arvind was impressive for Royal Challengers Bangalore

"At nets, they were all ready with the suggestions on variations, what length to bowl, how to bowl in crunch situations etc. Even when I was injured, I kept attending nets and it helped me immensely in match situations. Bowling in T20 is any time a tough job for bowlers. However, on certain occasions we were able to tilt it in favour of bowlers. In 2014, I was able to take wicket in the very first over in several matches for RCB. Of course, stint with RCB was really beneficial in terms of development as a bowler and adapting to various match situations," he said.

A tiny nugget will tell us Arvind's desire to keep on improving as a bowler - adding left-arm spin to his bag of tricks.

"It happened during the time of Sanath Kumar sir as coach. I told Sanath Kumar that I can try my hand in left-arm spin. He told me to try it more seriously as it can give the team some advantage. So I started bowling left-arm spin at nets and my confidence went up after landing the balls on the spot. I was also able to find the right trajectory and height. So Sanath Kumar told me to keep left-arm spin as a second option and I did that," he said.

So any regrets? "None at all. My career has been really satisfying. I have performed well for Karnataka over the last 10 years. Then I got a chance to represent India and I am really proud of all that. A big thanks here for KSCA and all the office bearers of past and present for encouraging me and standing by my side. I have decided to move on so that some of the youngsters, who are in their 20s, get more chances to play for Karnataka and show their skills. Though honestly I am good enough to play for two more seasons.

S Arvind moved away on a glorious note after being part of the Karnataka side that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy

"The new kids - M Prasidh, T Pradeep, Ronit More... all of them are brilliant and now they have a vacant spot to push for. They will now have to work harder on their bowling to get into that slot and they will have the support of Vinay and Mithun. I have real high hopes for them. Of course, I will always be there to help them out in whichever way I can."

It's a really comforting thought.

Story first published: Thursday, March 29, 2018, 13:19 [IST]
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