We relished representing Karnataka in Irani Cup: Vinay

Bangalore: Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar on Sunday said the opportunity to play for his home side in the Irani Cup after a long wait of 10 years had fired him and his players up for a good show.

Karnataka bowled out Rest of India for a mere 201 runs and Vinay led the side from the front with an impressive six-wicket haul on a green top. "I played in the Irani match as a part of ROI team on four occasions before. I waited for 10 years to play for Karnataka. I told youngsters about it which inspired us to do well," Vinay told reporters after the first day`s play at Chinnaswamy stadium. Vinay said his bowlers had the advantage to exploit a green wicket. "The wicket here does something in first hour of the day. Normally, there will be a little bit of grass, but today it had more. Luckily we won the toss and believed we could cause damage to ROI," he said. Vinay said he last got wicket on his very first ball two years back at Udaipur against Rajasthan. He had taken wicket of Jiwanjot Singh on the very first ball of the match in the morning. The skipper also said that Stuart Binny`s presence is a big boost for the team because of his all-round capabilities. "The team did not miss Binny in the last stages of Ranji matches because they had a backup, but having the all-rounder in the side is a big boost for us. He can take crucial wickets for us and his batting gives an added advantage," he said. Vinay said the immediate task for his team next morning is to make as many runs and get a big lead.