Vinay Kumar who? Vinay Kumar why?

Before the beginning of the Perth Test, news was that for the first time in their cricket history Indians were fielding four pacers. And also that it was the first time that an Indian team was playing without a specialist spinner. At some other time, some years back, we could have prided on it calling it a way forward (improvement in the fast bowling department, credit to MRF foundation and all that). But not when you are at the brink of your second series whitewash overseas.

It can be said that at Perth, a ground which is considered a fast bowler’s dream, our four-pronged pace attack was castrated by a marauding Warner. Warner went on to hit 180 runs off just 159 balls which included 20 fours and five sixes. The only spinner India used in the match was Sehwag and given that Warner faced only four of his deliveries scoring two runs off them, makes apparent the inability of our pace bowlers. Zaheer Khan was played away for 48 runs off his 44 deliveries, Ishant went for 43 off 42, Umesh Yadav for 44 off the 33 he bowled and the debutant Vinay Kumar gave away 43 runs off his 36 balls to the Australian batsman.

In a mass murder, however, Vinay Kumar was marked out for special treatment. The Indian captain looked clueless while finding a suitable cover for poor debutant — who was taken to cleaners by the burly batsman — no matter when and where he bowled from.

Giving away runs at 5.61 an over on his debut wouldn’t do any good to his future and he might as well have played his last Test match. If it happens the selectors are to be blamed.

To steal a quote from Jarrod Kimber’s satirical article for ESPNcricinfo, “Warner treated Vinay like someone who’d dated his sister twice, before dumping her when she refused to put out.”

Since then, the team selection has come under immense criticism. While the decision behind leaving out Ashwin could be reasoned by pointing out his lacklustre performance with the ball so far, the idea behind selecting Vinay Kumar remains questionable.

After the match, former pace legend Wasim Akram commented, “It is a dream for any quickie to bowl at Perth. But when I saw Vinay Kumar clock just 120 kmph in his first over, it was just disappointing. He seemed to be warming up in a Test match scenario. Was he playing a Ranji match against Kerala?”

A player in the mould of Venkatesh Prasad, who relies on accuracy and subtle variations to counter the run flow, was never going to be of any harm to the Aussies. And as expected, Kumar returned with figures of 13 overs, 73 runs and one wicket.

Giving away runs at 5.61 an over on his debut wouldn’t do any good to his future and he might as well have played his last Test match. If it happens the selectors are to be blamed. Leaving out Irfan Pathan against popular demand was a bad move; keeping Harbhajan out when you don’t have a spinner even half as good was an inane decision.

Although, one might say that the game cannot be run by opinion of the majority, men with fading vision shouldn’t argue with those who warn them of abyss ahead.