Vinay, a working class hero

[rkt.india]

On a surface where the margin for error was very limited, the earnest Ranganath Vinay Kumar towered head and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers on both sides, career-best figures of four for 30 just reward for diligence and sincere work ethics. Vinay will perhaps only remain one of the foot soldiers for the duration of his international career. His persona is endearing but not awe-inspiring, his bowling clinical but not intimidating. He will not so much blast batsmen out as out-think and outwit them; the 27-year-old can leave egos bruised, but he won't often threaten limb or head. The plaudits always go the way of the flamboyant even as men like Vinay go about their business quietly, and without fuss. Monday's outstanding effort couldn't have come at a better time, both from his own perspective and that of the team's. Seven previous one-day internationals had netted him a frugal five wickets at an economy well in excess of six runs per over. It didn't help that his appearances were sporadic and well spaced out, but at the end of the day, you are judged by the numbers that stack up against your name. If the Karnataka skipper was feeling the heat, he sure didn't show it. Vinay's greatest assets are his positivity and immense self-belief, traits that have helped him spearhead the Karnataka bowling with great success for a fair few years now. He fell back on those time-tested virtues again at the Kotla, producing two intelligent spells marked by craft rather than speed, as he undermined the English batting on a reasonably good batting strip. "He bowled well, he put the ball in the right areas," England skipper Alastair Cook remarked. "It was very simple stuff and he did it well, it's just a matter of sticking to the basics." Given that, unlike a Umesh Yadav or a Varun Aaron, raw pace is not his strength, Vinay relies heavily on variations. He has a beautiful natural awayswinger, to which he has also added the inswinger. He can bowl a well disguised slower delivery, has a nice slower bouncer, can occasionally surprise batsmen with a sudden surge of pace and bounce as Kevin Pietersen found out in Hyderabad, and very sparingly employs a Malinga-esque slinging delivery style that can, and has, caught batsmen unawares. More than anything else, he is a game trier, no matter what the stage, what the situation of the game or the quality of the opposition might be. He may perhaps never be the spearhead of the Indian attack like he is for Karnataka, but his onus on doing the basics right will ensure that he will be a consistent package who will, from time to time, perform something special. It's no exaggeration to suggest that what Zaheer Khan is to the Indian team, Vinay is to Karnataka. He has taken the likes of Abhimanyu Mithun and S Arvind under his wings, enjoying the mentoring process and confident in his own ability not to feel insecure about passing on tips to his less experienced mates. Even in this Indian outfit, he is among the more experienced bowlers at the first-class level, and has spent plenty of time with the likes of Yadav and Aaron. It is up to Vinay now to ensure that when the big boys, the likes of Zaheer, Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel, are fit and available, he is not relegated to the background. There were some fears that his lack of obvious weapons' might attract punishment on flat surfaces, but on Monday, he went some distance towards correcting that opinion. One swallow, however, does not a summer make. Vinay will now have to grapple with the burden of expectations, like he has successfully done for his State side, and if his domestic exploits are anything to go by, he will not be bogged down by that. On another day, under the same set of circumstances, the man of the match award might have been his. That it went to Kohli for his scintillating century goes to show how much of a batsman's game cricket is. Vinay, though, won't be complaining; that simply is not in his nature. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/198935/vinay-working-class-hero.html

[Yoda-esque]

:blink:

[ShanS]

Confirmed spot in the XI for the next 20 ODI matches for Vinay Ko-mar.:yay:

[Cricket Tragic]

:blink:

Credit to the guy - he bowled well.

[rkt.india]

Pace sidekicks connect crucial body blows New Delhi: Not many fast bowlers from India can boast of crippling Sachin Tendulkar to his knees after targeting his helmet with a steep bouncer. Unfortunately for Umesh Yadav, the incident that occurred at a deserted practice arena in Cape Town went on to become his only claim-to-fame moment. Similarly, R Vinay Kumar's moment under the sun arrived when he traded his side-on jump for Lasith Malinga's slingshot during the IPL. "Malinga Kumar" was the name given to him by spectators for aping the Lankan, a collar he found hard to shake off. Apart from those off-field anomalies, the two Indian pacers weren't really remembered for any worthwhile achievements in international cricket. Until Monday. Experiencing their respective finest hours in the Team India blue, Karnataka's Vinay and Vidarbha's Umesh forged their own identities and cricketing tales with a stellar show of pace bowling at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium. With an average speed of 142 km/ph, Yadav manufactured blistering pace on a pitch tailormade for the slower bowlers, while also scalping the wickets of the two highest run-getters from England. Like wise, Vinay's gentle away swingers rocked Alastair Cook's men, as he finished with career-best figures of 4/30 from nine overs. Two of a kind Vinay and Yadav are diametrically different pacers. The former relies on control, and is many miles slower than the latter. But as a unit, they got the full package. Not only did they clean up more than half the English side, but also dominated their spin counterparts which is an achievement by itself on a typical Kotla track. Cook would have hardly expected his side's score to read 0/2 in two overs after he elected to bat first, but that's what happened after Vinay set Craig Kieswetter up with a series of mellow outswingers in the second over of the day. Like a shy romantic, Vinay narrowed in on the off-stump after three widish balls, and Kieswetter's blade kissed an edge off the first straight one. Following some tremendous control of swing bowling, Vinay bowled to ball of the day to the batsman of the year. Holding the last ball of his first spell back marginally against a freeflowing Trott the highest ODI run-getter in 2011 Vinay forced him to freeze on witnessing the dreaded length. Trott could neither cut off the backfoot or drive on the move the best he could do was poke and regret. Brute speed Quite unlike Vinay in approach, open chested Yadav was brute speed right from the offset. He smoked a delivery at 147 kmph in his first over, resulting in one of the three boundaries hit by Ravi Bopara. But he stuck to his strength (speed) and reaped the rewards soon after. Having beaten a well-set Kevin Pietersen with raw velocity on a couple of occasions ones that carried high into the keeper's palms Yadav began pushing the batsman deep into his crease with nippy short balls. A 141 kmph body blow to KP, Yadav eased a flat and wide one. Pietersen nicked, Yadav made merry. Merry was made three more times between them in the death overs, as the stands rose as one to cheer on India's perennial pace sidekicks. For two pacers who interestingly made their debuts together (against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo last year), Vinay and Umesh ensured that their first brush with success also arrived in the same game. http://cricket.expressindia.com/news/Pace-sidekicks-connect-crucial-body-blows/861343/

[rkt.india]

Credit to the guy - he bowled well.

Agree...its a due credit...he out bowled even PK..

[flamy]

wow, this reminds me of my diarrhea about badrinath :/

[Trichromatic]

He was way too accurate. Almost all deliveries in same area.

[bajrang]

^^ he has unlocked the mcgrath mode.

[Jersey #10]

^I wouldn't go that far

[King Tendulkar]

The guy has actully bowled well since joining indian team. If you ignored his speeds you would say he does well. If we had 3 express pacers and then just 1 Vinay. Would we want not say he adds good variation and balances the attack? Are seamers like him victims of the fact that there are no express bowlers in the attack to add variation and compliment bowlers like Vinay. I want to slam Vinay cos of his speeds and trundle qualities. But anytime he has played he always seem to bowl ok:haha:

[vishalvirsingh]

Agree...its a due credit...he out bowled even PK..

Seven previous one-day internationals had netted him a frugal five wickets at an economy well in excess of six runs per over. It didn't help that his appearances were sporadic and well spaced out, but at the end of the day, you are judged by the numbers that stack up against your name. 7 odi and 5 wickets and an economy of more than 6 Not Impressive at all???

[panther]

lol at who ever wrote that

[Yoda-esque]

:cantstop:

[Trundler27]

He is no working class hero.... He may be an optimum bowler at the first class level but he sucks and will always suck at the international level. Honestly, I don't see any 'lovely outswingers', the 'newly added inswinger', the 'brutal burst of pace', or the 'malinga-esque slingers' in his repertoire for a good 95% of his deliveries. He is just a very good trundler who will ocassionally bore the heck out of batsmen and get a few wickets. I surely appreciate his 4-for in the last game but let's not make him a 'hero'. Only our indian team can afford to play such bowlers on a consistent basis because we don't have enough world class seamers.

[flamy]

He is no working class hero.... He may be an optimum bowler at the first class level but he sucks and will always suck at the international level. Honestly, I don't see any 'lovely outswingers', the 'newly added inswinger', the 'brutal burst of pace', or the 'malinga-esque slingers' in his repertoire for a good 95% of his deliveries. He is just a very good trundler who will ocassionally bore the heck out of batsmen and get a few wickets. I surely appreciate his 4-for in the last game but let's not make him a 'hero'. Only our indian team can afford to play such bowlers on a consistent basis because we don't have enough world class seamers.

++ :clap:

[achilles]

Vinay had a great game. No denying that. But it is baffling to see Aaron sit out consistently.

[b555]

watta article :blink:

[Lord]

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[The Realist]

Seriously a hero?! :cantstop: Just shows the extreme poverty of bowling if garbage like him gets to play regularly.