B Arun IPL Son Adithya Coaching Academy

Just under seven decades ago, C Rajagopalachari, the then CM of TN, had suggested the next gen to learn, take up and continue the hereditary skills of their forefathers. This had not been received well by the public in the state. Into the 21st century, in the cricketing arena, one is finding the next gen following what Rajaji had wanted in that phase all those decades. In August 2020, this section had featured a story on the then 25year old Adhishwar, son of former India fast bowler and architect of the MRF Pace Foundation TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-architect-behind-worlds-best.html), getting into the IPL. Interestingly, a confident Adhishwar has already made the move from Mumbai Indians to Delhi Capital. This year will see CEO Adithya, son of former India Bowling Coach B Arun, launch mega cricket academies in two locations. The one in Hyderabad will officially kick off in the next fortnight while the one in Chennai will be launched later this year.

Adithya was a fast bowler who made his debut in the city league under the captaincy of this writer just over a dozen years ago. He went on to play for Dindigul Dragons (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/srinivasan-s-vimal-khumar-tnpl.html) in the TNPL for four years. But just ahead of the breakout of Covid he had a self realization that he was not good enough to achieve his dream of playing for the country. And he decided to pack his boots and move into the Corporate World in Cricket. It had always been his appa’s wish to set up a coaching academy that would identify talent at the grass root level. 

He was keen to pursue a Masters in Sports Management and had secured a seat at Loughborough University in the UK but (un)fortunately the breakout of the pandemic led to the course being deferred. And he began to anchor the revamping of the coaching academy located on a 2 ½ acre campus in Hyderabad.

His new firm ‘Coaching Beyond’, of which Adithya is the CEO, had taken over the St. Johns Academy, an existing coaching unit that had previously produced seven international cricketers. Adithya began to anchor an extensive revamp of the academy. 

Talking to this writer from Hyderabad, Adithya is grateful that his Masters degree saw a deferral “Having worked here for over a year, I have realized that what I learned her could not have been taught in any University in the world.”

He says that the existing academy had at one point several hundred students but he is clear that a 1:8 ratio is to be maintained and will be downsizing when they officially launch it shortly “The students will be based on selection. Delivering quality and personal attention to each student will be an important feature of the academy.”

The academy in Hyderabad is almost ready for launch with the final revamping work expected to be completed in the next week. As soon as this is completed, Adithya will move back to Chennai to finalise the location for the academy there “We have identified the location. It will also have a full fledged cricket ground in addition to net facilities. The academy in Chennai will be ready for launch by June this year.”

The firm will launch a portal for 'Coach Education' that will be available at an economical cost. Next month, there will also be an in person coaching programme to train coaching and up-skill them. The longer term plan is to take the academy to smaller towns and for them to act as feeder to the main academies in Hyderabad and Chennai. Currently there are 17 coaches, 10 staffers and 6 back end employees in the firm.

28 year old Adithya says that playing was exciting as long as it lasted but he has had a strong mind to let go of his playing ambitions (he has registered himself with a lower division team in the TNCA league) and move into a career in the coaching arena. For the moment he is the CEO who is anchoring the management of Coaching Beyond but someday in the future, Adithya, who is also a level two coach, is hoping to expand his personal offering into coaching as well.

He has a big advantage being the son of Arun, who has been touted as one of the best man managers in Indian cricket “Appa has always given positive vibes. In any given scenario, he sees the positive side and acts accordingly. In the 90s, he had made his intentions of coaching the Indian team one day but was not taken seriously. He lived his dream and finally managed to achieve that. That’s a great learning to take forward.”

Clearly the Next Gen in cricket has arrived and Rajaji’s stated model is now working big time in cricket. Like Adhishwar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/08/ta-adhishwar-mumbai-indians-strategy.html), Adithya is looking to a long hit on the cricket field albeit not with the bat or ball. And he strikes a confident note that he will be able to deliver on the coaching front and create the next generation of cricketers.

B Arun, Ravi Shastri and R Sridhar along with a corporate are the partners in Coaching Beyond. 

B Arun has just completed a glorious phase in his cricket career leaving the India coaching scene with a never been seen fast bowling riches. He got big insights through a deep analysis of issues that had previously plagued the fast bowlers in India and presented a meticulous plan to the Ravi Shastri and  Virat Kohli. And he went about implementing the strategy that has helped take India to the top of the cricketing world. Interestingly, a similar plan tried out by England has failed miserably in the last 12 months because of faulty implementation. Being the top international team five years in a row he says has given him immense satisfaction and been one of the big highlights of his coaching career. Talking to this writer in the midst of a Covid scare in the family, Arun says how a phone call from London led to his coaching dream come true.

Arun’s relationship with Ravi Shastri dates back to 1980 when the two were in the U19 camp in Bombay. He says that the two of them had hit it off right then and it has been a long four decades friendship. He says that the call from Ravi was one of his biggest moments “I was driving my car when Ravi called from London asking if I would be interested to take up the bowling coach role. It was a dream come true for me.  Long ago, I had set out with the ambition to coach the Indian team one day. I have had my fair share of arguments with Ravi but it has always been for the betterment of the team. Once we agreed, we went wholeheartedly into it.”

Premier spin bowler of the Indian team, R Ashwin, has been through challenging times in the last few years and has been quite vocal as to how he felt in those times. Arun says he has had a great working relationship with Ashwin “He is such an intelligent guy that he always comes up with lots of questions about the technical aspects of bowling. I found that to be very interesting. In fact, my ability to coach spinners is better than fast bowlers!!! I did my level 3 coaching thesis on spinners. We learnt a lot from each others, he brings so many different perspectives to the table and it is always fascinating to engage in a discussion with Ashwin. I have always believed in giving feedback to bowlers for I think it empowers them even more and allows them to be innovative.”

“Ashwin is one who has constantly strived to come out of the comfort zone wanting to better himself at what he does and that is a great quality and sign of a champion bowler. My relationship with him was built on trust and mutual respect and through those challenging times, we have always had an open and transparent discussion. And he appreciated that.”

It was Arun’s deep analysis and insights into the fast bowling scenario in the country that has led to the emergence of the new crop of fast bowlers each bowling at good speed over long periods of time. “When I was at the NCA, we got together to analyse as to what could be done with the fast bowlers in terms of pace as they seemed to start at 130KMPH but gradually came down in pace. We found that work load management and attention to fitness were the two key aspects and worked on optimal bowling programme for fast bowlers at the nets.”

After his huge success with the Indian team, it is no surprise that the IPL franchisees are looking to grab him. In July 2017, on a personal invitation from VB Chandrasekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/vb-chandrasekar.html), this writer attended an event at Savera to announce the launch of B Arun as the Head Coach of Tiruvallur Veerans (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/07/arun-quits-tnpl-tiruvallur-veerans.html) in the TNPL. However, within 72 hours, Arun had to quit as the coach as he was appointed as the Bowling Coach of India. He is now likely to get into the larger IPL "I will definitely be part of the IPL this year and am likely to finalise this soon."

The Father and Son did not achive big success in their playing days but both are now deeply entrenched into the coaching space. The father has already carved a great name for himself at the international level while the son is starting out on an exciting path with the ambition of creating the next gen of India cricketers!!