The last time R Vinay Kumar donned the national jersey, he had gone for a total of 102 runs in his nine overs, thus breaking the record of Zaheer Khan (88 runs in 10 overs) to leak most runs in an ODI game by an Indian bowler.
Though a double century in that match from Rohit Sharma drew all the limelight and Vinay Kumar’s record was probably which something that did not highlight much.
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Soon, after the unforgettable game, he turned up for Karnataka and led the team to a Ranji Trophy victory and post that, an Irani Cup victory as well. In both the games, Karnataka posted a win by a margin of an innings and Vinay Kumar scalped 17 wickets in those two games.
He had done enough to make a comeback for the national team, but when the squads for Asia Cup and T20I World Cup got announced, his name wasn’t there, which forced him to change himself, as Vinay Kumar reckons,
“I took 10 wickets in that match. All the selectors were there and everyone watched the game. Two limited-over Indian teams were to be selected shortly after the match. I thought I had done enough. But when the list came, my name wasn’t there in either of them. I felt so bad I can’t explain. Then I thought, maybe I need to change myself,” he said after the end of day’s play.
He has been a domestic legend as apart from his 438 first-class wickets, Vinay Kumar had also scored 2599 runs which also includes two centuries, but at present, he is nowhere close to national selection. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar have gone far ahead of him. But Vinay Kumar is forcing selectors to have a look at him again.
With his hat-trick against Mumbai in the fourth quarterfinal of Ranji Trophy 2017/18, Vinay Kumar sent a message to the selectors that sooner or later, they will have to include him in the team.
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Talking of the game, riding on six-for from R Vinay Kumar, Karnataka bundled out Mumbai on a mere score of 173 and hold a stronghold of the game with a score of 115/1 at stumps. R Vinay Kumar, the most experienced player in Karnataka line-up, opened up Mumbai’s inexperienced top-order, including Prithvi Shaw, who was one of the batsmen who was on the list of his hat-trick.
Karnataka would be hoping to pile up runs on day two, and on half of day three before asking Mumbai to chase down the lead, after which they would expect to set a target for the Karnataka side.
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