KB Arun Karthik bats for Tamil Nadu pacers

Former Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman KB Arun Karthik shed light on how domestic cricket has been developing, both in the state and across the country, in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda.

While Tamil Nadu’s batting has always been the team’s strength, we have seen more bowlers coming through in recent years. Arun Karthik believes that the Tamil Nadu pacers have only gotten better.

“Tamil Nadu has always had a strong batting unit. To get into the Tamil Nadu side, you need to score lots and lots of runs. Over the years, players from Tamil Nadu that have played for the country have been batsmen or spinners, maybe one or two pacers. Now in addition to good batsmen and spinners, Tamil Nadu also have good pacers as well,” Arun Karthik said.

Arun Karthik believes that the way cricket is played has changed

The former Royal Challengers Bangalore man also spoke about how differently the game is played now, with batsmen having a wider array of shots and the focus on fitness opening up more opportunities for pacers.

Arun Karthik believes that the influence of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is there for all to see in the modern domestic game. With the present-day under-19 cricketers having watched the IPL since they were a young age, their incredible range of shots are testament to the role of the league in a player’s development today.

“The way cricket is being played has completely changed over the years. The U-19 guys that would have started playing at 10-12 years old would have grown up watching the IPL. The amount of shots they play now is incredible,” Arun Karthik told us.

“Ranji Trophy is a lot more competitive now. You can see a lot of bowlers getting more than 50 wickets a season these days. You see that a lot of fast bowlers are getting wickets too. That is one area where first-class cricket has developed. Especially with the training culture that has come in, we now have a lot of fast bowlers that can bowl around 140 kmph,“ Arun Karthik also added.

Speaking about his foray into Sri Lankan domestic cricket, Arun Karthik had high praise for the standards of the game in the island nation. He believes that cricket in Sri Lanka is highly competitive and playing some of the best bowlers the country had to offer at the time helped him build up confidence early in his career.

“The standard of cricket in the Sri Lankan domestic circuit was very high. The teams are extremely competitive and all their top players generally take part in the tournament. Their fast bowlers are very good. After playing, I started to believe that I can play any kind of fast bowling. All the fast bowlers at the time like Malinga, Kulasekara and Kapugedara played domestic cricket at the time,” Arun Karthik said.

On a personal level, the former Kerala cricketer aims to win the Ranji Trophy, in a bid to complete his domestic trophy collection. Arun Karthik also hopes to make a comeback to the IPL, and given his performances in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), that may not necessarily be a distant dream.

“Everyday I wake up, I see myself making a comeback in the IPL. I also want to win the Ranji Trophy. That is one tournament that I have not won. I have won all other tournaments at some point in my life. (Winning) these two (tournaments) are my goals right now,” Arun Karthik told us.