Best laid plans pay off for Kumar

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore paceman R Vinay Kumar was thrilled to have played a part in his team's win against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.

Here's more from his interaction with the media.

Excerpts:

On the win: Actually for us it was a do-or-die match. For Kolkata Knight Riders we had planning, Anil (Kumble, captain) spoke to all the bowlers, he gave a good game plan and he said see, last three-four matches, bowlers have given 180 runs. This match just go out there and give your best, because it is a crucial match for us. We had a plan and we just went there executed it.

On not finishing his quota of overs (3-0-23-3): Yeah that’s right, sometimes one kind of a strategy can come from the captain. You have to adjust to that. Its fine, ultimately the team won.

On what was going through his mind while bowling the last over: Actually the last match they needed nine runs again, it didn’t go my way. After that I had planned with the video analyst, coach, captain. They said whatever mistake I did, you should have bowled that length, you should have bowled up to batsmen and I had a plan.

On what Kumble told the team: Yeah, before the game he spoke to us (all the bowlers). In the last four-five games we have been consistently giving [away] 180 runs. It was a worry for the captain.

On getting the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar earlier in the tournament and Sourav Ganguly today: It’s a great motivation, but for me the plan has been to bowl in certain areas. I don't think much of the opponents while bowling to them. I just stuck to my strengths.

On there being pressure as the next two games are away: Not really, after the today’s win we are confident and going in with a winning mindset.

On the pitch: Well the wicket was looking good. We went in with Sridharan Sriram to give us a solid start.

On coming into bowl in the 12th over: There was a certain plan in place. Jacques Kallis was bowling well and we wanted him to finish his overs. Sriram also bowled a couple of overs but that was part of the plan. The team's think-tank had already decided when to bring me into the attack. And we executed the same thing.