Change in mindset, R Vinay Kumar felt, was the reason behind change in Karnataka’s fortunes in their Ranji Trophy campaign that was heading directionless until their last match against Delhi.
The Karnataka skipper was speaking about the changed approach to batting by the top-order batsmen, who for some strange reason had shed their natural flamboyant style and had become excessively defensive.
It was particularly so with opener Robin Uthappa whose defensive approach was all too evident during Karnataka’s first four matches which fetched them just five points. Uthappa, however, made a sparking 81 in the second innings against Delhi that paved the way for Karnataka’s first win of the season.
“I think the fact that the batsmen played their natural game in the second innings against Delhi helped us script a turnaround,” Vinay said on Friday, the eve of the game against Vidarbha.
“You saw in the last game, when Robin batted the way he did, he raced away to 80 in no time. I feel it’s the changed approach of the batsmen that set up the victory for us even though we conceded the first-innings lead. Batsmen like Robin and Manish (Pandey) are mature enough to understand situations and the needs of the team and adapt accordingly.”
Karnataka’s approach to Vidarbha game won’t be much different to the one against Delhi. “We will go for an outright win. That’s how we went in to the last game as well. The confidence in the camp is quite high after the last match, and we want to carry a similar mindset into this encounter. I have always maintained that at this level, there are no easy teams.
“Every team is good enough to beat everyone else. We saw that against Odisha, who conceded the first-innings lead to us but came back to score an outright win.”