KARTHIK’S play back

Till this moment,Prasanna had thought that Karthik could never feel gratified. But now,recalls Prasanna: “He said,‘after today I do feel like I have achieved the standard that we set out to reach.’”

There had been signs of improvement even during IPL V,according to the 37-year-old Prasanna. And during last year’s Champions League T20 in South Africa,he himself had tried to convince Karthik that he had hit the big league. But the man himself didn’t seem to think so.“He played a blazing knock against Chennai (74 off 45),where he hit six sixes,and in my opinion,he seemed to have cracked it,” Prasanna says. “But Dinesh wasn’t convinced. He was like ‘I won’t believe it till I have done the same against either Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel.’”

Perhaps it was the sizzling extra-cover drive off Morkel that convinced him. Or the fact that he had dominated a bowling attack of international renown on a wicket on which even some of his high-profile teammates had struggled. Nevertheless,Karthik hadn’t just realised his blossoming as a batsman. He had also justified everyone who had touted him to be a potential superstar when he first turned out for Tamil Nadu as a teenager. His batting numbers so far in IPL VI attest to that. Karthik is fourth in the run-getter’s tally with 254 in five innings,at an average of 50.80 and a strike rate of 148.53 — the highest among batsmen with over 150 runs.

Karthik’s coming of age isn’t the first feather in Prasanna’s cap. In three years as South Africa’s technical and performance analyst,he has also been credited by Hashim Amla for embellishing his game.

For Shankar Basu,RCB’s strength and conditioning coach,it’s been a case of double delight. On one hand,he is exultant about Karthik,his best friend,having acquired such a level of technical excellence. It was Basu,meanwhile,who had discovered a spark in Prasanna during their days together at the National Cricket Academy (NCA),and mentored him into expanding his inherent cricketing nous into a coaching mechanism. It was Basu who had initiated the meeting between the underperforming cricketer and the ambitious analyst.

“Dinesh Karthik is like a son to me. We were neighbours and since his parents were in the Middle East,he would spend loads of time in my house. We developed such a bond that I have the liberty to ask him to follow my advice blindly. Two years ago,I told him to quietly hire Prasanna,” says Basu.

The summer of 2011 was a period of disillusionment for Karthik. He had been out of the Indian team for close to 10 months,his longest hiatus. His previous stint with the national team,during a triangular series in Sri Lanka,had ended with him averaging 6.6 with the bat in five innings. And by the time the 2010-11 domestic season came around,Karthik’s batting form had hit horrific depths,and all he managed in 10 first class matches were 246 runs at an average of 24.60 with just one half-century. From being MS Dhoni’s first-choice understudy,the combative wicketkeeper-batsman had spiralled down the pecking order. IPL IV didn’t bring him much joy either — an average of 25.63 — despite his being promoted in the order by Kings XI Punjab. Karthik was now in search of answers. In Basu’s opinion,Prasanna would provide them.

An eye for technique

“Prasanna is a next-generation coach. He’s a cricket nut; he analyses technique minutely and is a whizkid with technology. There aren’t many who can give you solutions to technical discrepancies like he can. He’s a genius and no one can hold a candle to him,” Basu says.

Luckily for Karthik,South Africa were in the middle of a three-month break from international cricket following the 2011 World Cup,which meant he could have Prasanna to himself. Chennai also happened to be the analyst’s hometown,where his wife and family resided. So enamoured was Karthik with his new coach’s acumen that he asked Prasanna to move into his house,where he remained for 40 days.

“I have never believed in the concept of ‘form’ in sport. If a sportsperson is not performing to his potential,it has to be a result of some technical discrepancy. And the key lies in spotting it,” Prasanna says.

As always,he didn’t reach any conclusions till he had viewed hundreds of videos and split-screens of his client’s recent outings in the IPL and in domestic cricket. The technical issues weren’t as dire as Karthik had imagined. All he was found guilty of was of getting caught behind far too often while playing shots on the move,without a solid base.

“We broke down his technique to its bones and began working on it from scratch. I gave him pointers on where he could make adjustments and he bought into it straight away. I made him play a few local TNCA Division One matches in Chennai,and the improvements were beginning to show,” says Prasanna.

Their schedule was hectic,but Karthik,according to Prasanna,worked untiringly in the unforgiving Chennai heat.

“He’s as dedicated as anyone I have seen,and I have worked with the likes of Amla and (Jacques) Kallis. He would face 700 balls in a day without taking a break. I would ask him to relax after 70-80 balls but his response would be ‘Am I doing everything perfectly according to your blueprint?’ And even if I said he was 80 per cent there,he would want to continue,” Prasanna says. “On our way back,I would tell him that he faced 727 balls,and Dinesh himself would be shocked. They call me the energy tank back in South Africa,but Dinesh managed to tire me out.”

And their day wasn’t done yet. Each night,the two would assemble again post-dinner,and Prasanna would brief Karthik about his findings,gathered from notes taken down after each ball faced in the nets.

Even after Prasanna returned to South Africa,Karthik hounded him for suggestions. His phone rarely stopped ringing,and he continued to keep track of Karthik’s domestic performances. “I would watch videos of him on my phone,and keep track of his scores wherever he was,” Prasanna says.

In the build-up to the IPL last year,Karthik,by now well settled with his new technique,sought a way to enhance his T20 game. Prasanna flew in for a three-day visit a few days before the event. “We booked a ground,got in bowlers of all kinds,and I gave Dinesh 90 scenarios based on T20 games and set targets for him to achieve,” says Prasanna. “This was centre-wicket practice and we did drills for different shots.”

While Prasanna flew back,Basu kept an eye on Karthik’s performances. He didn’t taste success immediately,only managing 238 runs in IPL 5 at an average of 18.30,and was dismissed too often in the 30s. But then came the Champions League,followed by a run of consistent returns in domestic cricket,which included his becoming the highest run-getter in both the Corporate Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy,both 50-over tournaments. Then came IPL 2013.

It isn’t just Karthik’s scores,but also his method,that has attracted notice. Wasim Jaffer has spotted key changes in his former Test opening partner’s technique.“Earlier he used to face up to the bowler in a ready position like a Kallis or a Gooch. Now,he taps his bat on the floor and looks more relaxed. It’s giving him more balance while playing his shots as it gives him a solid base,” says Jaffer. Karthik’s natural hyperactive tendencies,Jaffer adds,led to indiscreet shot selection earlier on. Now,he says,Karthik seems to have calmed down.

Short and sweet

The biggest improvement in Karthik’s game,according to Jaffer,is against the short ball,particularly how he now plays the short-arm pull off bowlers as quick as Morkel.

Prasanna puts this down to Karthik’s resolve to improve his game. “There were times he got hit in the ribs while practising against the bowling machine,” he says. “But he wouldn’t flinch,and insisted on continuing till he had mastered the shot.”

There’s still a long way to go in IPL 6,but Prasanna doesn’t hesitate to suggest that Karthik will remain in contention for the Orange Cap at the end of the tournament.

But he is already preparing to deal with the inevitable phone call if Karthik somehow falls short. “I’m sure to receive a call from Dinesh,” he says. “And he’ll ask me,‘Prasanna how do we take my batting to the next level? How do I make up the 30 runs I fell short by?’”

STROKE-FILLED SEASON

Karthik’s range of strokes against the spinners and the pacemen in IPL VI have made it difficult for opposing captains to contain him. Here are a few examples

Slog-sweep; Muttiah Murali

He had hit three sixes off Daniel Christian in the previous over but the RCB spinners had proved a handful till then and Karthik decides to take on Muttiah Muralitharan of all people,slog-sweeping him way over the mid-wicket fence.

Cover drive; Morne Morkel

Putting their front foot out might not be the first-choice option for most batsmen against the towering Morne Morkel,but here Karthik reaches out to the pitch of the ball despite being new to the crease and unleashes a blistering cover-drive.

Pull; Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav has been pacy all evening,but as he pitches it short,Karthik rocks back onto his back-foot,and despite the line of the ball being outside off,he pulls it over mid-wicket for a boundary.

Hook to fine leg; Angelo Mathews

Angelo Mathews pitches it short and the bouncer rises sharply over Karthik’s shoulder,but he gets inside the line,swivels and swings it over fine-leg for a high-rise six.

Drive into sight-screen; James Faulkner

The ultimate insult to a fast bowler as Karthik launches a full delivery from James Faulkner straight over the bowler and into the sight-screen for a boundary.

Knock by knock: Domestic turnaround

154 not out

(182 balls,14 fours,4 sixes) vs Karnataka,

Ranji Trophy

Till Dinesh Karthik walked out,Tamil Nadu had plodded along. Walking in at 287/3,Karthik launched a brutal assault,smashing 14 fours and four mighty sixes,scoring at a strike-rate of 84.61 against the likes of Vinay Kumar,Abhimanyu Mithun,Stuart Binny and KP Appanna.

187

(296 balls,17 fours,3 sixes) vs Haryana,Ranji Trophy

With rain ruining Day One,Tamil Nadu had to get a move on. Karthik walked in at 132/3 and took the attack to Haryana. There was movement in the air,and the visitors had the likes of Mohit Sharma,Harshal Patel and Joginder Sharma to utilise it. But they made little impact,as he smoked 17 fours and three sixes to take TN to 571 for six declared.

119

(119 balls,11 fours,1 six) vs Hyderabad,Vijay Hazare Trophy

Karthik scored at least a half-century in all five innings,ending as tournament’s second highest scorer. He followed up scores of 84,90 and 73 with a run-a-ball 119 against Hyderabad. He also showed off his six-hitting prowess,hitting seven in all while aggregating 436 runs at an average of 87.20 and strike-rate of 101.63

176 not out

(131 balls,19 fours,6 sixes) vs BSNL,Corporate Trophy

Karthik topped the run-charts of the Corporate Trophy with 301 runs at an average of 100.33. The signature knock though was an unbeaten 176 against BSNL after India Cements had lost openers Mukund and Arun Karthik within eight overs.

66 not out

(40 balls,9 fours,1 six) against India B,Challenger Trophy

With 11.1 overs left Karthik went after Praveen Kumar,Umesh Yadav,Munaf Patel and Ravindra Jadeja,hitting nine fours and a six,guiding his team past the 300-run mark.