Jagadeesh Arunkumar roped in as new Hyderabad coach

What's the story?

Former Karnataka captain and coach J Arunkumar has been appointed as the head coach of the Hyderabad senior team for the 2017-18 season. He will be replacing Bharat Arun, who was appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian cricket team.

Arunkumar believes that the Hyderabad team has an immense amount of potential and the players are determined to strive for a better performance. Discussing the attitude of this team he said, “Young players like Mohammed Siraj and Tanmay Agarwal have already broken into IPL teams, and as a team, Hyderabad has a lot of hunger."

"It is a bit like how it was with the Karnataka boys when they were all young – players like KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey. They had the hunger and the desire, and that is what I see in a lot of these Hyderabad lads", he added.

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Arunkumar is particularly excited about working with Ambati Rayudu, who led the HCA XI Cricket team in the All India Coromandel King Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Cricket Tournament.

Prior to this move, Arunkumar worked with the Karnataka team for five years. During his tenure, Karnataka won all the major domestic tournaments including Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani Cup for two years in a row.

The details

Karnataka's state team thrived under Arunkumar. He assured an intense and fruitful training for the players, which showed its impact on their performances during the domestic tournament.

However, the recent 2016-17 season was not quite favorable for him and his team.

Karnataka was knocked out in the quarter-final stage of this year's Ranji Trophy which further led to his removal from the coach's role for Karnataka.

What's next?

Arunkumar is likely to begin the training of the Hyderabad team quite early so that he has ample amount of time to study each member of the team.

Author's take

Arunkumar has represented India on international stages while playing for the U-19 as well as India 'A' teams. His experience from rubbing shoulders with the international players adds to the training that he imparts to his team.

Moreover, after having donned the coach's hat for the domestic teams, he understands the psychic and playing conditions of the young budding players. It is important for him to motivate his team towards delivering a master-class performance in the domestic tournaments as well.