CHENNAI: If winning a league or a trophy across sporting disciplines is one thing, making a habit of it is a completely different ball game. Not many teams, whether it is international or franchise-based or domestic, have the legacy of doing that.
In the Chennai cricketing circles, Jolly Rovers, the cricket team of The Sanmar Group, has been doing that for several decades. The latest one being their triumph in the 17th VAP Trophy one-dayers where they beat MRF-GlobeTrotters by five wickets to secure their ninth title.
It isn’t just a lone title for them this year. Earlier this month, the Rovers had also won the TNCA First Division title and the Rajah of Palayampatti Shield — their fourth double so far. “This is definitely a very happy moment for all of us with this being the fourth time we are winning the grand double. I think all the efforts that have gone over the last four years worked for us,” says an elated Ajay Kudua, who is the cricket manager at Jolly Rovers.
Among other things, one of the standout things about this victorious campaign is the fact that the batters are not leading the charts for the season. In fact, Ram Aravindh R, who topped the list for the team with 263 runs in five innings, is fifth in the overall chart. It was a complete team performance, especially with the bat, that helped Jolly Rovers win the title. With the ball, R Sonu Yadav (13), S Mohan Prasath (12) and P Saravana Kumar (12) dominated the proceedings, sharing 37 wickets between them.
“Our focus is always on player development. We focus on all players and not just one or two. Ram Aravindh, in his first full season for Jolly Rovers, he has come good, Sonu Yadav, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, has scored as well as got wickets. We have two pacers coming in, most of the pros didn’t play a full tournament. It was mainly our local guys who made this possible,” said Kudua.
Like any sporting team, Jolly Rovers’ success, too, is because of the strong scouting they do through the year. And it is not just about the first division players. “We keep looking through divisions, we scout for all divisions and once we find some good player, we have a process. We keep them in the mix and see our coaches interact with him and see if he is capable of coming into the fold for our team. There is a process in place,” he says.
“If you see this VAP tournament, it was not easy. We played three games in the first half and the last two games after the red-ball tournament. We got just one day of white-ball practise. The boys adjusted well. We put a lot of emphasis on the pre-season effort. The effort is the key and the trophies become the by-product,” he adds.
For any organisation to have an elaborate professional setup is not easy without the backing of the management and Kudua attests to it. “You have to give it to the management, Vijay Shankar sir and Bharat Reddy sir. Unless you have their support all this is not workout. Player development is a long process. Take the case of B Sai Sudharsan, we have taken him from when he was 17 years. We keep looking for talents.The Sanmar management has played a big role in this. If someone from our team plays for the country that is what gives us and the management maximum happiness.”
SCOREBOARD
Ram Aravindh R is fifth in the overall chart. It was a complete team performance, especially with the bat, that helped Jolly Rovers win the title. With the ball, R Sonu Yadav (13), S Mohan Prasath (12) and P Saravana Kumar (12) dominated the proceedings, sharing 37 wickets between them.