It was ironical that 27-year-old Vinay Kumar, with 233 first class wickets in a career of seven years, could only be part of the India Emerging players' side on its tour of South Africa two months ago. An ‘emerging player' after an impressive showing for Karnataka and South Zone!
In the second One-Day International against England at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Monday, Vinay, playing his eighth ODI, finally proved his worth.
While the talk in the series was revolving around India's strength in spin bowling, the Karnataka bowler showed how effective a swing bowler could be in the subcontinent.
His career-best ODI figures of four for 30 off nine overs here was the reward for his subtle variations and control.
On the hard surface of the Kotla, the medium-fast bowler generated movement and bounce to surprise the England batsmen and keep them in check.
He pushed the visiting team on the backfoot by delivering a double-blow in his opening spell of five overs.
He produced an out-swinger to get rid of opener Craig Kieswetter and got gentle swing to have the dangerous looking Jonathon Trott caught behind.
Vinay came back later to claim two more wickets.
The ball that moved late to take Graeme Swann's off-stump would have left Vinay with a sense of pride, evident from a rare show of aggression in celebrating the wicket.
A picture of confidence, Vinay exhibited his repertoire to trouble Tim Bresnan before compelling him to mis-time a shot. One can understand why Karnataka misses Vinay a lot when he is away on National duty.
During the last season when Karnataka was struggling to tame Himachal Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy match in the cold and windy conditions of Dharamsala, coach Sanath Kumar bemoaned: “The conditions are so suitable for Vinay. He would have made a big difference.”
Not too tall, he gets bounce because of his high-arm action. Line and length is Vinay's forte, and movement a trusted weapon. He is a thinking bowler. His stint in domestic cricket has taught Vinay to explore and experiment
This performance should do wonders to his confidence.
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