Chennai: He might have ended on the losing side in the IPL final but Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Sreenath Aravind is happy with his own performance and says he had a dream run in the tournament, bagging 21 wickets from 13 matches.
"It was a dream come true for me to take lots of wickets. I was well supported by Zaheer Khan and (captain) Daniel Vettori and especially coach Venkatesh Prasad," said Aravind.
The 27-year-old, however, expressed disappointment that his team lost the summit clash to Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs."It is disappointing. We could have won the match. It is unfortunate but part of the game," he said.
Acknowledging experienced Indian pacer Zaheer Khan`s contribution to his success in the tournament, Aravind said the veteran bowler always helped him with valuable suggestions.
"Every delivery is a learning experience for me. I have learnt how to bowl to good and experienced batsmen in a competitive field. Zaheer Khan had been telling me how to hit right areas and how to bring variations," said the lad from Bangalore.
The Royal Challengers conceded 200-plus runs against Chennai and that was always too much for the side to chase down on a slow pitch. But Aravind said the absence of fast bowler Dirk Nannes of Australia could not be blamed for the debacle.
"It is a part and parcel of the game that some players would be missing. We missed him but it was a chance for the youngsters to show their mettle and shape up their careers well," Aravind said.
Aravind refused to believe that it was tough to bowl against the Super Kings` opening pair of Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay, who steered their team to a huge total with a 159-run stand.
"It was not difficult. I bowled on wrong lines. I have said it is a batsman`s game but on days even the bowlers dominate."Assessing Royal Challengers` overall bowling performance in the fourth edition of the IPL, Aravind said, "Our overall bowling performance is quite good. Daniel Vettori, Zaheer Khan, Abhimanyu Mithun and myself have done quite well."
The Bangalorean, who represents Karnataka in the domestic circuit, has been performing well for the last two years but had failed to hog the limelight.
"During the last two years, I have been working on my game. I can say that in Karnataka, many people are helping me in the domestic circuit. Players like Robin, Vinay, Joshi, my coach Sanathkumar have been helping me a lot.
"This has helped me build my confidence. I am looking forward to do more," said Aravind.
When asked if he thought his domestic performances had gone unnoticed, he said, "I cannot say about that. Every game is like limelight for me. That is all I can say."
PTI
First Published: Sunday, May 29, 2011, 13:50