Vinay: 'I will wait for India opportunity'
"The Indian team already has many fast bowlers who have been performing well. So I can’t say that I should be in the team right away. I have to wait for my chance, and if it comes, I have to stick to my strengths," says Vinay Kumar.
Published : Nov 16, 2016 18:59 IST
Vinay Kumar cites the example of South African quick Vernon Philander when asked if he should add a few yards of pace to his bowling.
"If I can bowl at an average speed of 130-135 kmph, it will be good enough to do well in any conditions. Look at Philander, he bowls at around 128-129 kmph, and he has done so well. If I keep hitting the areas where the batsman is weak, I can be successful," Vinay states, after Karnataka whipped Rajasthan in a Ranji Trophy outing here.
"Sometimes I do feel that I should try and bowl quicker, but I mainly rely on swing. If I try to bowl too quick, then I will lose out on my strong points," he says.
The 32-year-old believes that this self-awareness will lead him to the Indian team. He admits that it will be a tough task, given the stiff competition.
"The Indian team already has many fast bowlers who have been performing well. So I can’t say that I should be in the team right away. I have to wait for my chance, and if it comes, I have to stick to my strengths," he says.
Vinay, who picked up his 400th first-class wicket when he had Rajasthan’s Siddharth Dobal fishing outside off, believes that he is peaking now. Indeed, his recent returns point to the same. In the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy season, Vinay finished as the joint leading wicket-taker with Shardul Thakur (48 wickets). The current campaign has yielded 16 wickets in three games, at an average of 10.6.
"I’ve been a few steps ahead of the batsmen, and this has helped me take the last 200 first-class wickets in quick time. Sometimes you have to play on the batsman’s mind. If I set the field for a bouncer, I will bowl full and swing it in. The batsman does not expect this. I've become a lot more mature with experience," he says.