‘Duleep Trophy failure was a wake-up call’
By : manuja veerappa
Update: 2013-12-28 17:40 GMT
Bengaluru: Watching KL Rahul bat makes one realise he’s a talent with a rock-solid foundation and a conversation with him reveals he is also a well-sorted youngster with commendable focus and intent.
At 21 and three seasons old on the first class circuit, he’s already being compared to his legendary namesake Rahul Dravid, but the lad himself has no such thoughts, although he’s currently the ‘wall’ of the Karnataka Ranji team.
His confidence on the field stems from his abilities. He’ll open the blade freely when the situation demands without throwing his wicket away and his driving and pulling are easy on the eye.
With 777 runs from seven outings at a rate of above 70, he’s been the livewire of the Group A table toppers’ campaign so far. After a poor Duleep Trophy outing this year, Rahul believes his mindset changed. “Duleep Trophy was a wake-up call for me.
It was a big opportunity, even the selectors were watching. But I didn’t perform well. So, I came back and worked a little bit more on my batting.”
Rahul, who made his debut Ranji debut at 18, only to be dropped three games later has seen a turnaround in his role in the team and the responsibility has brought out the best in him.
“This season my role and responsibility has changed in the team. I now open the batting and the guys look up to me. My role is different and I think I’m playing out that role pretty well. I enjoy the responsibility and happy that I’ve earned that responsibility.” said the top scorer at the Emerging Teams Cup, the continental U-23 tournament held earlier this year.
Speaking about the youngsters in the team and the competition between them, Rahul said, “The competition has really made us better cricketers. I talk for our batch – me, Karun (Nair), Mayank (Agarwal), (HS) Sharath, Ronit (More). The competition has made us stronger and we’ve realised that nowadays, our cricket needs a lot more than what we used to do. Even during off-season, we’re working on some aspect of the game.”
Rahul, who is also a handy wicketkeeper, believes the comparison with Dravid is wrong.
“I feel it’s very wrong to compare me to Rahul Dravid. He’s a legend, and he’s always been my idol. I don’t think I can even be half as good as him. He’s got over 20,000 runs, and if I can get half of that in domestic or international cricket, that would be a great achievement for me. But I will take a lot of confidence from the fact that people compare me to Dravid, but it also puts pressure on you – people expect you to deliver and be as good as he was.”
But he doesn’t shy away while talking about the stalwart’s influence in his development as a batsman.
“My relationship with him (Dravid) is the same relation any Ranji player shares with him. He’s a very keen observer of cricket, and he loves Karnataka cricket. But I go to him more than others, maybe. I keep asking him questions. There was a time when I used to worry a lot of about getting runs, getting into the team and so on.
"He asked me what was going on in my mind, and when I told him, he said it was important to trust my ability and skill. He said I should concentrate more at practice and shouldn’t let these thoughts affect me on the ground. He said I should be confident that I had done everything possible to get till here," said the Karnataka opener, who rates his 98 against Haryana on the tricky Lahli turf as his best this season.
With one league match to go before the knockout round, the Mangalore youngster believes the gutsy young Karnataka side has enough spunk to battle their way to glory this season.
Ashokanand is KSCA president
Ashokanand is KSCA president
DC Correspondent
Bengaluru: P.R. Ashokanand was on Friday unanimously nominated president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association at an Executive Committee (EC) meeting.
The elevation of the 73-year-old, the senior most vice president, was on expected lines. The post fell vacant following the sudden demise of newly elected president Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar on December 10.
At the EC meeting, secretary Brijesh Patel and treasurer Dayanand Pai, who were both eligible for the post, opted to keep their current positions. Patel proposed Ashokanand’s name which was seconded by Pai.
During the elections held on December 1, Ashokanand was elected one of the three vice-presidents.
Speaking after his nomination, the former state cricketer said, “We’ll do whatever our president who passed away had envisioned. He had a great vision. His biggest ambition was to make Karnataka the best cricketing association in the country and one of the best-run associations. We’ll ensure that his wishes are fulfilled. I’m sure with the support of all the members of the committee and the association, we’ll definitely go forward. We look forward to making this a better association and a more member-friendly one. We want to give the paying public also better facilities.”
Ashokanand also spoke about the revival of many tournaments. “We’ll try to revive all the tournaments, like KPL, YSR, and the T20 tournament which was not held (for the past three years). I don’t know why it was not conducted but we’ll make sure that we revive it and give opportunities to the boys to go up the ladder.”
Ashokanand, who was chairman of the state senior selection committee, resigned from that post with former cricketer R. Sudhakar Rao taking his place. The rest of the panel – Sanjay Desai, Fazal Khaleel and Dodda Ganesh – remains unchanged.
TN blanks Karnataka
TN blanks Karnataka
TN blanks Karnataka
Tamil Nadu girls cruised to victory, getting the better of Karnataka 3-0 in the Youth South Zonal National Volleyball championship on Friday.
Results: Girls: Andhra Pradesh bt Pondicherry 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-13); Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-0 (25-17, 25-08 & 25-17). Boys: Karnataka bt Pondicherry 3-2 (25-27, 25-16, 25-16, 23-25 & 21-19)
Dharma, IT set up final clash
Dharma Raja Union edged past Sri Gajanana 3-2 to enter the final of the BDFA B Division tournament for the Jagadeshwara Cup on Friday. Union’s charge was led by Anil’s hat-trick.
In the other match Income Tax ousted Southern Blues 2-0 to set up a final clash with Dharma Union.
Results: Sri Gajanana 2 (Muthu 17th, Varadaraj 59th) lt to Dharma Raja Union 3 (Anil Kumar 29th, 52th, 60th); Income Tax 2 (Manoj Kumar 37th, Shivakumar 53rd) bt Southern Blues 0.
Beagles score over BSNL
Beagles Basketball Club had little trouble in getting past BSNL 75-49 in the State A division basketball league championship for the NC Parappa memorial trophy at the Sree Kanteerava stadium on Friday.
Results: HASC 73 (Visu 18 Czar 10) bt KSP 58 (Santosh 21 Gasti 16) HT 34-32; ASC 77 (Shashi 12 Harish 11) bt MEG 69 (Sanil 24 Ajmal 11) HT 34-24; CMP 79 (Nesa 29 Arun 12) bt Young Orions 66 (Agu 31 Yashas 27) HT 32-22; Beagles BC 75 (Chetan 25 Etang 19) bt BSNL 49 (Rohit 16 Ajmal 10) HT 46-29.