×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Vinay ready for the big league

Last Updated 26 March 2010, 17:54 IST
ADVERTISEMENT

There were strong indications ahead of Friday’s selection committee meeting in Mumbai that the 26-year-old, who has been a stand-out bowler along with his State-mate Abhimanyu Mithun in the just concluded domestic season, would be picked for the World T20 but as has often been the case, Vinay had just kept his fingers crossed.

More often than not, his performances had gone unnoticed or rather been overlooked. But thankfully, not this time. If a whopping 53 scalps in nine first-class matches and eight wickets for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing Indian Premier League weren’t going to earn him a place in the National T20 squad then nothing else could have.

Delighted

His State team coach K Sanath Kumar’s reaction was laced with a tinge of sadness when Mithun was picked for the first Test against South Africa in February. While he was all happy for Mithun, he was disappointed that Vinay missed out on the opportunity.

However, Sanath is a happy man now, with Vinay getting recognised at last. “Look at his performances... How can anyone ignore them? He should have been rewarded much earlier, but better late than never,” noted Sanath, himself a former Karnataka medium pacer.

Vinay, who has been given a two-day off along with other Royal Challengers team-mates, was driving down to his friend’s place on the outskirts of the City when he heard about his selection.

“A friend of mine broke the news to me. I didn’t know how to react, though a lot of people had been telling me that I would be selected this time. I am very happy,” he reacted.

Top performer

Vinay has been the top-notch performer in the domestic set-up for the last three seasons and yet he wasn’t even considered good enough for a BCCI contract by the worthies. “Yeah, I had been expecting this (call) for a long time and everytime I had been left disappointed,” remarked Vinay, the owner of 202 wickets from 54 first-class matches since his debut in 2004-05.

He was the domestic bowler of the year in 2007-08 with 47 batsmen in his bag in nine matches but his name was shockingly missing from the 41-list of contracted players last November. That was tough phase to deal with for the youngster. “Once I, in fact, went and asked Rahul (Dravid) what do I lack and what’s that I have to do to get selected. I started worrying like ‘I must be doing something wrong.’ But he just told me to continue what I am doing and that one day I will get the chance,” he revealed.

Obviously it’s the biggest break for the lad from Davanagere.  “It’s a huge opportunity for me. All I want to do is to continue the good work that I have been doing. It’s important that I don’t get overawed by the situation and just concentrate on the job at hand,” he pointed out. Given his work ethic and dedication, there is little doubt that Vinay will give it his all if the opportunity presents itself. 


Vinay fact file

* Full name: Ranganath Vinay Kumar
* Born: Feb 12, 1984.
* Age: 26 years 42 days
* Major teams: India A, Karnataka, Royal Challengers Bangalore
* Twenty20 debut: Karnataka vs Kerala at Visakhapatnam, April 3, 2007
* Matches: 35. nRuns: 145
* Highest: 25 not out 
* Bowling: 34 wickets
* Best figures: 4/40 

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 26 March 2010, 17:53 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT