Karnataka have Railways down and almost out

In a country where fast bowlers are tough to find, wickets in domestic circuit discourage the ones available.

In a country where fast bowlers are tough to find, wickets in domestic circuit discourage the ones available.

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Left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind, who was part of the India squad for home ODIs against England, was asked to bowl left-arm spin on a track that was a rank turner from the first day. His effort was good enough to earn two wickets and, backed by left-arm spinner KP Appanna's fifer, put Karnataka in the driver's seat.

The wicket was made to help Murali Kartik & Co run through Karnataka, and blunt the teeth in Karnataka pace line-up that comprises R Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and S Aravind --- all of who have been in India squad this year.

The plan backfired. "I am available for India as a seamer. But on this track, I bowled spin," said Aravind. Coach K Jeswanth had made it clear the day before that he will be asked to bowl spin.

The competent and versatile Karnataka bowlers were on the money. The three seamers are fighting for a place in the India team that's trying to hit the right blend. No wonder, they bowled their heart out.

Abhimanyu Mithun, who played in the Test series in West Indies, scalped a couple while Vinay went wicketless in the first, but impressed in the second innings. He bowled at pace and sent back one Raiwlays batsman. One's success keeps the other on toes. That's the secret of a pace bowling pair.

"Well, it ensures that we take every Ranji game seriously. We've worn the India colours recently and we know we're just a good performance away," said Vinay Kumar. He calls it "healthy competition" while Mithun says there's no competition at all. "We were young when we came in and were hungry for success. We hit it off as a pack," said Mithun.