Representing Karnataka at the Ranji Trophy circuit is a dream that many a young boy who slogs it out in the nets of little cricket camps across the state, nurtures. For Mangalorean K L Rahul, the dream transformed into reality when he walked the field sporting the state jersey in the current Ranji Trophy season.
No wonder the boy from Surathkal is elated. “Feels great! Escpecially after working hard for so many years...”, he says. But the lad knows it's just the beginning. “This is just the first step. But I feel really happy”, he adds.
Rahul rates playing for the state at the most acclaimed domestic cricket tournament in the country as a better experience, even in comparison to his experience at the U-19 World Cup held in New Zealand when he donned the India colours. “Right now Ranji Trophy experience feels better. I got a chance to share the dressing room with seniors and guys like Manish Pandey, Robin Utthappa and the like. I got to learn a lot, but still got to go higher”, he says.
That said, Rahul does value the U-19 World Cup campaign a lot. “It was the first time I actually played in a foreign country. The conditions there were different, the wickets were bouncy”, he discloses. Rahul believes that a good player needs to play well irrespective of the wickets he gets. No wonder he doesn't blame the controversial Vadodara track too much, where Karnataka ended their Ranji campaign this season as they lost to the home team in the semis. “Wickets in India are also good. Yea, Baroda's was a bad wicket. The match got over in five sessions. But you can't blame the wicket all the time”, he feels.
Karnataka cricket is on a high at the moment and the change of guard with former India skipper and one of India's legendary spinners Anil Kumble taking charge at the top as the President of the KSCA, has only acted as the cherry on the icing. The new executive team comprising of former India players Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad have only inspired the budding state cricketers like Rahul.
“The new team has just started functioning. They're doing a good job. They come up to us and talk to us and take our feedbacks. Kumble sir makes us feel comfortable. He comes to the net sessions and had come to see the match at Mysore too. So far it's been good”, reveals Rahul.
With Kumble preferring to stay out of IPL as a player, he but naturally has given an indication that perhaps he wants to serve the state cricket board in his new role better this time around. But talking about IPL and other Premiere leagues held in the state, Rahul feels the shorter version of the game is a positive development.
“Premiere leagues are only going to help cricketers. We are getting exposed to the bigger picture. We would also like to see the 50 over format being given similar importance”, says Rahul, who was part of the Bangalore Brigadiers team captained by Robin Utthappa in the Karnataka Premiere League (KPL).
But does too much of cricket bother him, especially with the injury factor associated with it? “Not really. We play a lot of cricket. But we have trainers and physios. We work with them and they are professionals. Yes, injuries do come, but when they come during or around the off season its all the more better, so that we can recover in time. Injuries are more personal rather than stemming from the schedules”, says Rahul, with his coach Jayaraj Samuel nodding in consensus.
His coaches Jayaraj Samuel and Devdas Nayak have played a great role in shaping up Rahul's journey so far. It was Jayaraj Samuel who identified thatsomething' in Rahul.
“I had started playing cricket from the time I could walk or hold a bat. I used to keep asking dad to put me in some cricket camp. Then when I joined the Nehru Maidan cricket camp when I was 11, sir identified my talent”, says Rahul, looking at his coach sitting next to him.
What is it that Jayaraj saw in him? “When we first saw him, he was not that impressive. But he had commitment”, says Coach Jayaraj. “He was only 11 years old. We asked him to bat against some of the very good bowlers we had. He used to patiently do it. He got selected to the U-13 team. We used to tell him that Rahul you have to bat from both the ends i.e. play 5 balls and take a single and play from the other side too. Like a good student, he obeyed us and he did it. There, we realized that he is special”, the Coach says.
The recently held IPL auction showed that there's greater demand for young blood in the T20 circles. Youngsters, many of them, have used this platform to find a place in the national team as well, R Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Saurabh Tiwari, Amit Mishra, and the like to name a few. But when it comes to representing the country in the Test format, the general impression is that youngsters have not come to the party enough to find a permanent place in the squad, Yuvraj Singh being one of the prime examples. On the other hand, the post-Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid era has already become a cause of concern. But Rahul feels things will fall in place with time.
“Test cricket is different from other formats. It's all about the mind. It takes time for people to get used to Test cricketing strategies at the International level. If you see Gambhir, he took his time…Initially he was struggling but now, there's no stopping him”, Rahul opines.
When asked whether a premiere league or something like an IPL should be introduced to boost domestic Test cricket with international players will help in some way, Rahul responds in the affirmative: “Playing with senior cricketers will always be good. It'll be good for cricket overall”.
The upcoming World Cup will be an exciting one, feels Rahul. And he is putting his money on the sub-continent teams. “The sub-continent teams have a good chance. It's going to be a good world cup. There is tough competition as it's not one sided now”.
Having played a World Cup tournament himself at the U-19 level, Rahul knows what the showpiece event has on offer both for players as well as fans. He recalls his thrilling WC experience: “Initially we didn't start well but pounced back in the later part of the tournament. Then came a stage where we were up against Pakistan and the match was such that even if the game is drawn or called off, they would qualify. We got together and told ourselves that we have to win this game, come what may. We weren't thinking about the quarter final and the semi final or the World Cup then and it was just that match that we badly wanted to win. But it started raining and we had to wait in the dressing room. We even tried to help the groundsmen because we wanted a game. If it was some other team, we wouldn't have done that. But they won that match”.
Rahul has come a long way and he only wants to advance further now. May he play for India at the highest level, a dream that he would love to see realize.
Rahul rates playing for the state at the most acclaimed domestic cricket tournament in the country as a better experience, even in comparison to his experience at the U-19 World Cup held in New Zealand when he donned the India colours. “Right now Ranji Trophy experience feels better. I got a chance to share the dressing room with seniors and guys like Manish Pandey, Robin Utthappa and the like. I got to learn a lot, but still got to go higher”, he says.
That said, Rahul does value the U-19 World Cup campaign a lot. “It was the first time I actually played in a foreign country. The conditions there were different, the wickets were bouncy”, he discloses. Rahul believes that a good player needs to play well irrespective of the wickets he gets. No wonder he doesn't blame the controversial Vadodara track too much, where Karnataka ended their Ranji campaign this season as they lost to the home team in the semis. “Wickets in India are also good. Yea, Baroda's was a bad wicket. The match got over in five sessions. But you can't blame the wicket all the time”, he feels.
Karnataka cricket is on a high at the moment and the change of guard with former India skipper and one of India's legendary spinners Anil Kumble taking charge at the top as the President of the KSCA, has only acted as the cherry on the icing. The new executive team comprising of former India players Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad have only inspired the budding state cricketers like Rahul.
“The new team has just started functioning. They're doing a good job. They come up to us and talk to us and take our feedbacks. Kumble sir makes us feel comfortable. He comes to the net sessions and had come to see the match at Mysore too. So far it's been good”, reveals Rahul.
With Kumble preferring to stay out of IPL as a player, he but naturally has given an indication that perhaps he wants to serve the state cricket board in his new role better this time around. But talking about IPL and other Premiere leagues held in the state, Rahul feels the shorter version of the game is a positive development.
“Premiere leagues are only going to help cricketers. We are getting exposed to the bigger picture. We would also like to see the 50 over format being given similar importance”, says Rahul, who was part of the Bangalore Brigadiers team captained by Robin Utthappa in the Karnataka Premiere League (KPL).
But does too much of cricket bother him, especially with the injury factor associated with it? “Not really. We play a lot of cricket. But we have trainers and physios. We work with them and they are professionals. Yes, injuries do come, but when they come during or around the off season its all the more better, so that we can recover in time. Injuries are more personal rather than stemming from the schedules”, says Rahul, with his coach Jayaraj Samuel nodding in consensus.
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