JOIN USReflecting on his brilliant bowling on the opening day of the quarterfinal against Mumbai here, Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar said everything went according to plan for him.
"There was 4mm grass. Though the grass might not play a big role later in the game, we knew that the match would start half an hour early and that's why we chose to bowl. All three of us (Vinay, Mithun and Arvind) bowled in the right areas and that was the plan. Anyone among the three could have got wickets and today I was lucky I got the wickets," he said.
Vinay said he was prepared to tackle the Mumbai openers. "We saw the videos and their openers were going for the shots. As openers, you must play closer to the body. The way I am currently bowling, I thought there was a chance for me to take those wickets. Bowling in the right areas and taking the ball away and sometimes getting it come in as well, is my strength," he offered.
It was not the first time the seasoned campaigner had brought out his best against Mumbai. "It is always good to perform against them. Mumbai is a great team and they have been doing well for many years. Whenever we play Mumbai, I take it as a challenge to bowl well. Sometimes I might get wickets and sometimes I might not. But I won't change my attacking approach," he said.
Mumbai frustrated Karnataka for a while with a last-wicket partnership of 70 between Dhawal Kulkarni and Shivam Malhotra. "In a way, it (partnership) was good for us. Had we got them all out early, then the wicket would have assisted their pacers. Somewhere at the back of my mind it was there that we shouldn't let them reach 200. We got less overs to bat and hopefully tomorrow it will be much better to bat," he explained.