J Arunkumar appointed as US cricket team’s coach
US cricket announced on Tuesday, former Karnataka coach J Arunkumar was appointed head coach of the US men’s national team. Last month, TOI announced that Arunkumar was in Houston to meet with players, selectors, team managers and support personnel. Only before the lockdown he went back to India.
Iain Higgins, CEO of USA Cricket stated in a blog “I am happy to announce that we have reached an agreement that he will assume the position and be permanently based in the US as and when his working visa has been received. Of course, in the short / medium term, the Covid-19 pandemic has now posed some difficulties on the scope of the position, but we wish to finalize all the tasks and more formally welcome him in due course.
Affirming his two-year deal, the former opener said, “I’m excited to take up my first international task. I’ve continuously been up for challenges and this task gives me the chance to test myself against larger and greater teams. I’m looking forward to working with players to guarantee there’s an upward climb in USA cricket. My goal is to bring together players from a variety of cultures and ensure they play cricket well against greater sides.
Whereas holding up for the work visa, which has hit a barricade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Arunkumar started virtual training. He said. ” We’ve held a video conference with the team, they do have a program in which they evaluate situations with the video call. We do have a framework by which we are evaluating circumstances with the bowlers and batsmen.”
US talent pool consisting of a large number of expats from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Australia, Arunkumar trusts that his experience as a player at RCB and as a coach with Kings XI Punjab will keep him in great stead.
“My time in various positions at the two establishments will be very significant. In IPL, teams can come together for a period of two months, including the pre-tournament camp. It is therefore vital that we as coaches break the ice with players quickly, consider their comfort zone, examine how hard you’ll thrust each one and set performance goals under pressure. I was exceptionally attentive of the coaches as an IPL player, and learned from how they treated every player,” Arunkumar said.
Arunkumar has won both Ranji Trophy titles as player and coach with Karnataka. Besides coaching teams to titles in the T20 leagues in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, he has also coached Hyderabad and Puducherry. The 45-year-old, who will move with his spouse and girl to the US, has chosen his position at Karnataka as his most special stint of coaching.
“Coaching Karnataka continuously will be my best encounter. I was blessed to begin my coaching career on domestic turf and win back-to-back triple crowns. We learned and accomplished together, and the winning squad’s USP was team spirit. It was a big learning curve since we worked with a group of skilled young people.”
Indeed as Arunkumar goes through the paperwork to travel overseas, he knows that he has a task to be accomplished in his country. “I wish to play for India like other people, although that didn’t materialize, but I’ve always wanted to be a part of the India national team. I’m still young and, with experience, I might come back here in the future to be a coach with the national team. That said, I’m concentrating on cricketing in the USA for the next two years.
