Taking the US to the top 10 of world cricket. “That’s (playing Test cricket) ultimately got to be the aim of all cricket playing nations”. This is J Arunkumar’s ultimate aim. The former Karnataka coach, who was appointed coach of the US national team last week, believes it can be done, but it’s going to be one heck of a process. And a challenge, too, considering the country, that was banned by the ICC in 2017, was only welcomed back into the fold last year.
JAK, as he is called in cricketing circles, says his first order of business is to get the diverse nation singing one common tune. “I would say the first challenge is getting them all together, because of the diverse nature of the team (the major portion of the players come from India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, UK and so on),” he says.
How did the opportunity come about? The former opener, who has also served as batting coach with IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab, applied for the vacancy earlier this year. The nature of the job meant he consulted extensively with his family and once the US cricket board offered him the job, he flew down to Houston for a short camp.
“You want to make that step up (from domestic cricket to international cricket) to see if you are good enough at that level. That was the main reason behind me applying for it,” the 45-year-old explains. “I was down in Houston for a few days where I spent time with the probables. I was impressed with what I saw. The original plan was to spend more time but because of the coronavirus pandemic, I had to fly back.”
The pandemic has put paid to JAK’s hopes of hitting the ground running — for one thing, US’ next few cricket assignments (in Florida and in Netherlands) have already been indefinitely been delayed — but he is keeping his spirits up by having online meet-ups with the players and support staff. “I will be going there subject to my work visa once the situation clears. Till then I will be managing stuff online.”
Once he relocates, he will have to quickly adapt because it’s unlike anything he has done in India. “There is going to be a lot of travel involved because I have to go from point A to point B to see the boys and talk to them and see them in action.” In India, centralised coaching camps is the order of the day.
Apart from that, he also has to travel for the purposes of scouting. “There are two leagues coming up, minor cricket league and major cricket league. You never know, the guys there are extremely powerful and well built and you can unearth a really good fast bowler just like that. So we can find guys like that anywhere. There could even be a camp in India sometime in the future if the logistics work out.”
He is also hopeful because of an upgrade in infrastructure. “There are six international cricket stadia coming up pretty soon.” In the short-term though, his sights are firmly set on getting US to the 50-over World Cup in India in 2023. Chances of that happening, at this moment, are minimal but funnier things have happened in the sport.