I could have bowled better, says Vinay

Pacer R Vinay Kumar has been the leading wicket-taker in the tri-series with nine wickets from four matches, well ahead of many other fancied names.

The Karnataka skipper said it was the belief of coach Duncan Fletcher and bowling coach Eric Simons that spurred him to do well in the tournament.

“I won’t say it was not a great debut for me. It was really good, and in fact getting Mike Hussey’s wicket was really good. But that game Warner went after everyone. That day was ordinary.

“After that, I have been doing really well in ODIs. I really thank coach and bowling coach for backing me. When the senior players, captain and coach have trust in you, definitely you will do well,” Vinay told reporters here on Saturday.

The 28-year old pacer said he needed to be more consistent. “The pace is coming really well now. But I need to be more consistent. If I see the last four games I could have given 10 runs less every game. Even though I did well, there are many areas that I can really improve, I am working on that,” he said in all modesty.

Vinay also underlined the importance of reducing the number of bad balls as they can invite severe punishment at the international level.

“Initially, I gave away a few easy balls when a new batsman came, so the pressure couldn’t be maintained. I need to bowl more dot balls. Compared to Ranji, margin of error is very less in international cricket. Here, batsmen will convert good balls also into fours, so bad balls definitely will get punished. So, you have to be more consistent at this level,” he said. “If you see from outside things look okay. But as a bowler I know I can control all those things.”