Can Vinay Kumar play for India?

[Sooda]

Vinay Kumar searches for route to the top Despite his achievements over the last six years, Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar remains unfamiliar to most Indian fans Siddarth Ravindran in Mysore He has 179 Ranji Trophy wickets at 22.15 over six seasons, in each of which he has scalped more than 20. He was the domestic bowler of the year in 2007-08 after dismissing 47 batsmen in nine matches. Despite these achievements, Karnataka seamer R Vinay Kumar remains unfamiliar to most Indian fans, and he didn't even find a place on the BCCI's 41-man list of contracted players last November. "It's a real big surprise for me why he's not made the next level," his state coach Sanath Kumar says. "He bowls at about 130kmh, which is pretty decent, moves the ball both ways and is very accurate." This season has been Vinay's finest yet. With the added responsibility of grooming two young, talented quick bowlers in Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind, he has been at the forefront of Karnataka's charge to the final. His 43 wickets put him on top of the Ranji charts this season, including a personal-best eight-wicket burst against Delhi, and on the big occasion of the final, he calmed the team nerves by slicing through the Mumbai top order. Vinay debuted for the Karnataka Ranji side as a 20-year-old in 2004-05, when the team was looking for the next generation of fast bowling talent after the retirement of David Johnson and with another stalwart, Dodda Ganesh, fading. He was an instant success, getting the wickets of Sourav Ganguly and Rohan Gavaskar on debut, and has played in nearly every Karnataka match since. He is deeply disappointed at not making it to the national team so far. "I feel bad that no one is recognising me. Everyone knows that I've been doing well for the last six years," Vinay says. He turned to Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid for advice, and their guidance kept him focused. "They would say that your day will come. Don't get desperate. If you are, then your bowling will suffer and you may start doing new things that will spoil your bowling." He also sought the counsel of one of his first coaches, LM Prakash, from his hometown of Davanagere. "I keep telling him to concentrate on bowling well and not to bother about the results," Prakash says, "to keep enjoying himself, keep performing for the team to win, and wait for his time to come." I'm making him realise that he has to get into the national team as an allrounder Karnataka coach Sanath Kumar Now 25, Vinay is at an age by which most Indian cricketers have already made the breakthrough - several competitors for a national pace-bowling spot like Sreesanth, RP Singh and Munaf Patel are roughly as old as him, while Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi are younger. Perhaps there is a different route to the top? "I'm making him realise that he has to get into the national team as an allrounder," Sanath says. "Probably the place which has been left vacant by Irfan Pathan. I'm telling him all the time he has got tremendous potential as a batsman." Vinay started out for his first club, United Cricketers, as a batsman, idolising Dravid and wanting to copy his batting style. "He was concentrating more on his batting initially," Prakash says, "There was a bowling coach Prakash Powar, a fast bowler for Goa, who thought there was talent in Vinay as a medium-pacer. He made him bowl at the nets and Vinay started playing as an allrounder. Gradually, as he progressed to the higher levels, his bowling started getting more recognition, but even up to the zonal under-19s he was scoring plenty of runs." Two seasons ago, during former India allrounder Vijay Bharadwaj's tenure as Karnataka coach, Vinay was tried as a pinch-hitter for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The experiment was a partial success: he made a quickfire 32 and a couple of half-centuries in six innings. "All my coaches tell me I have a good technique in batting, and want me to concentrate on that," Vinay says. "After getting so many wickets, I'm not getting enough recognition. I have to score. Now, slowly, I'm concentrating on my batting as well." ------ Has anyone seen him bowl? Can he make the ODI side? Should he have in Tyagis stead?

[coffee_rules]

He seems to be Venkatesh Prasad mach 2, unless he moves the ball prodigally, he can't break into the national side. He was in the A tours isn't it? I don't know how he performed there. I doubt his performances there warranted any selection in the national side.

[sm332]

didnt this chap play in the IPL - if he is the same guy then no - I dont see an Intl future for him. He might be a Bose type of bowlers ... FC stud but just not talented enough to survive at Intl level.

[pappu_kanghi]

Yes he can play. If Praveen Kumar can play then why cant Vinay play?

[punjabi_khota]

I haven't watched Ranji matches like in forever, and I am eager to know the hell do semi-trundlers like him manage to average ~22 over a season on the great flat tracks of India. :dontknow: Are the batsmen so poor ? I mean when was the last time any India pace bowler averaged 22 in a season with majority tests played in India? :wall:

[coffee_rules]

^just like IPL success didn't translate into T20 WC success. A lot of our FTBs were exposed in T20.

[fineleg]

Ami daaku Ronadeb Bose! To be fair, Vinay has done exceptionally well in terms of domestic stats. But the question is can he translate that to Intl cricket? I'd say the selectors can give him a chance in ODIs that are played in Eng, NZ. On those tours, he need not be phaassht, but will be good to have a medium pacer who can move the ball and bowl a good line and length. He can bat a bit too, I think.

[saneindian]

He has 179 Ranji Trophy wickets at 22.15 over six seasons, in each of which he has scalped more than 20. And Joginder Sharma has 214 wickets at 20. Thank you sir, add some pace or else like a certain Ranadeb Bose, you will forever be playing domestic cricket. Someone asked about Vinay's performances in Ind A matches. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/184/184844.html (No wickets, Tyagi had 5) http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/184/184845.html (No wickets, Tyagi and Kulkarni did better) In last year's Duleep trophy too he didnt take a single wicket in 2 matches for South Zone.

[King Tendulkar]

I haven't watched Ranji matches like in forever, and I am eager to know the hell do semi-trundlers like him manage to average ~22 over a season on the great flat tracks of India. :dontknow: Are the batsmen so poor ? I mean when was the last time any India pace bowler averaged 22 in a season with majority tests played in India? :wall:

good point:haha:

[Params7]

There's too many ignored Ranji trophy stars... This is why IPL is kinda' good for the country. Ranji Trophy is all about just getting selected into the Indian team now, its like it has no credibility of its own like the IPL has. Ranji Trophies problem is very few people watch it.

[urbestfriend]

I haven't watched Ranji matches like in forever, and I am eager to know the hell do semi-trundlers like him manage to average ~22 over a season on the great flat tracks of India. :dontknow: Are the batsmen so poor ? I mean when was the last time any India pace bowler averaged 22 in a season with majority tests played in India? :wall:

You don't understand because your understanding of cricket is poor :giggle: You are wrong if you think batsmen get out only for pace, reality is batsmen can be troubled also by good line and length,seam movement etc...!

[Ram]

He's a very honest trier, make no mistake about that. But there isnt enough in his bowling to warrant an international selection. He bowls around 125 kph, occasionally crossing the 130 mark. To his credit, he does swing the ball when the ball is new, but I fear his biggest failing is when the ball stops swinging. At that pace, with no swing, he will be cannon fodder to most international class batsmen. Even someone like Dhawal Kulkarni easily scored off him in the last session of day 2 of the final, when there was no swing or movement. I am guessing that a big proportion of his wickets generally come in the first session, when the ball is new and the opposition batsmen are having trouble countering the movement. But, at the international level, most batsmen will be able to negotiate him first up and from then on, it will go only downhill for Vinay. I can see why he is disappointed - Who wouldnt be, especially if you're the season's leading wicket-taker? But I am afraid Vinay hasnt got enough to play for India.

[jusarrived]

nope , he might get to play couple of matches ..but hes not international class !

[The Outsider]

I haven't watched Ranji matches like in forever, and I am eager to know the hell do semi-trundlers like him manage to average ~22 over a season on the great flat tracks of India. :dontknow: Are the batsmen so poor ? I mean when was the last time any India pace bowler averaged 22 in a season with majority tests played in India? :wall:

A lot of teams juice up the pitches in Ranji and coupled with early winter starts you get these kind of messed up leading wicket takers and averages. Gagandeep Singh was another example - an absolute monster on the juiced up Mohali tracks in the winters for the generally technically unequipped opposition openers.

[Lord]

he might play few ODIs coz of his batting,but tests no chance

[msb1991]

I'm not sure, he should probably be in line for a Test opportunity (not quite at the front though), as he has done well in the Ranji Trophy for some years now. He has shown durability to perform respectably in most years in the Ranji Trophy Super League (not the Plate League like Joginder Sharma) and not get injured or lose form. His speed is reasonable too, he bowls at 125-130kph which is borderline acceptable for a Test bowler. It is likely that he'll gain a yard of pace in Test cricket - like someone like Sidebottom as he'll put on more effort for the occasion and will be in sufficient understanding of his action of how to do so. I'm sure I saw him bowl at 130-140kph during the IPL and simply this is a virtue of how an experienced bowler can control his pace to a limited extent. This is mere speculation though and not really too important as I think his pace is sufficient for Test cricket. As someone of his speed though, I would feel that one or two more seasons really at the top of the rankings would be necessary to justify selection though. For ODI cricket though, I think he is definitely worth a shot. With the inconsistency of bowlers that we have, I think a new pacer is welcome. If he does not succeed, we can discard him, but the numbers look good, with a OD strike rate of 99.14 and an OD average of 22.29. Incase anyone is interested, I stumbled upon a clip of him on youtube: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQOL-v6N1cI]YouTube- Vinay Kumar[/ame]

[Lord]

^ I agree he should play ODIs but not tests.like PK hes too reliant on new ball swinging.wen t doesnt,his pace makes him cannon fodder.i am not sure if he can reverse swing it.but still u need atleast 135 kph to be an effective test bowler

[Dravid]

I haven't watched Ranji matches like in forever, and I am eager to know the hell do semi-trundlers like him manage to average ~22 over a season on the great flat tracks of India. :dontknow: Are the batsmen so poor ? I mean when was the last time any India pace bowler averaged 22 in a season with majority tests played in India? :wall:

most of our ranji bats are FTBs that would make Mahela proud.. just see whats happening in final ona green pitch...:hahaha:

[Sooda]

He has 179 Ranji Trophy wickets at 22.15 over six seasons' date= in each of which he has scalped more than 20. And Joginder Sharma has 214 wickets at 20. Thank you sir, add some pace or else like a certain Ranadeb Bose, you will forever be playing domestic cricket. Someone asked about Vinay's performances in Ind A matches. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/184/184844.html (No wickets, Tyagi had 5) http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/184/184845.html (No wickets, Tyagi and Kulkarni did better) In last year's Duleep trophy too he didnt take a single wicket in 2 matches for South Zone.

Well that says it all really, when the going gets ever so slightly tougher he dosent quite get going. maybe if he does work on his batting he can get in as a bowler who can bat a bit. Not like our current crop is setting the earth on fire.

[Number]

:yay::yay: