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Ranji Trophy: Milestone man R Vinay Kumar relishing mentor role

Kumar joined Puducherry after donning Karnataka colours for more than 15 years. He took 20 wickets to help Puducherry reach the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where they lost to Karnataka.

Kumar, 35, returned with figures of six for 32 runs in 12 overs as Chandigarh were bundled out for 134. (FILE)

After claiming his 26th five-wicket haul in First-Class cricket and reaching 500 wickets at that level, R Vinay Kumar wanted to spend some time with his teammates post the first day’s play between Chandigarh and Puducherry at the Sector 16 Stadium. Kumar, 35, returned with figures of six for 32 runs in 12 overs as Chandigarh were bundled out for 134.

The hosts lost seven wickets for nine runs and the former Karnataka skipper was ecstatic. “It’s a big achievement for me but I am happy that I am able to perform for whichever team I am playing for. I still remember my first wicket in first-class cricket when I trapped Rohan Gawaskar LBW at the Jadavpur University ground in 2004 and since that day, I have always thought about bowling according to my strengths which also included getting wickets on flat wickets,” Kumar said.

Kumar joined Puducherry after donning Karnataka colours for more than 15 years. He took 20 wickets to help Puducherry reach the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where they lost to Karnataka.

After being part of the Karnataka team which won the double treble of Ranji Trophy, Irani trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, Kumar is now relishing the role of mentor of the pace department for his new team, which is coached by former Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar.

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“One of the main reasons for shifting to Puducherry was to give opportunities to youngsters in the Karnataka team. Youngsters like Ronit More and Prasidh Krishna were doing well for Karnataka apart from (Abhimanyu) Mithun and I knew if I stayed there, I would be blocking a spot. I could have easily played two more seasons for Karnataka but decided to move. Being the senior bowler in the Puducherry team and mentoring youngsters, who have not got that much exposure, is also a good experience for me,” says Kumar.

At an age when most cricketers contemplate hanging up their boots, Kumar has not given up on making a comeback to the Indian team. “If Ashish Nehra can do it at the age of 38, then that’s the benchmark for us. I believe if I am fit enough and bowling well, anything can happen. The only difference is that the body takes more time to recover and one tends to bowl less in the nets. But I believe experience is the biggest asset. If one is in good rhythm, a comeback is possible,” concluded Kumar

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Brief scores: Chandigarh 134 all out in 37.3 overs (Arslan Khan 42, Raman Bishnoi 41; Vinay Kumar 6/32, Sagar Udeshi 3/41) vs Puducherry 37/4 in 14.5 overs.

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First uploaded on: 28-01-2020 at 02:23 IST
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