My best showing, says Vinay

“I would place it right at the top of all my bowling efforts,” Vinay told reporters at the end of a highly satisfying day, both for him and Karnataka. His eight for 32 was Vinay’s eighth five-wicket haul in an innings, bettering his previous best of six for 38 against Maharashtra.

Evidently, there was something for the quicker bowlers in the wicket and the right-arm medium-pacer was humble enough to acknowledge that. “It was a bit on the slower side, but the grass on the wicket helped me move the ball. It was a good wicket to bowl on and I must say playing strokes wasn’t that easy, especially early in the innings,” he pointed out.

The 25-year-old didn’t get carried away, and instead focussing on doing the basics right. “I just stuck to my basics and Rahul (Dravid) too told me the same thing. I mixed my deliveries well. I usually don’t bowl inswingers, but I tried them this time often to set the batsmen up,” he noted.

Vinay also agreed that the presence of two other quality bowlers helped him get wickets. “You need someone to keep the pressure on. It’s no good if one bowler is bowling well and the other doesn’t sustain the pressure. Bowling is team work. And if most of the bowlers bowl well, one of them is going to get wickets. Mithun got them in Meerut and today I guess it was my turn,” he remarked.