Having Zak, Murali will make my job easier: Vinay

Royal Challengers Bangalore paceman R Vinay Kumar said having world-class bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori in their ranks would make his job easier in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"We have Zaheer, Daniel, Praveen and Murali, which makes my job much easier to put up a good show in this year's IPL," Vinay said before a practice match at Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Vinay Kumar was bought by RCB in this year's auction on February 4 following his impressive performance in the recently-concluded tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka.

The speedster, who was bought by Mallya-owned RCB for $ 1 million, said more than playing a mentor's role he would prefer helping young bowlers in Sreenath Aravind and Ronit More to give teeth to the bowling.

One of coach Ray Jennings favourite players, Vinay is optimistic of his team winning the elusive title this year but advised his team to get the basics right and take one match each at a time.

"If we continue doing that we will definitely win this year's league. However, it is too early to say anything at this point of time," he said.

Vinay hopes that the explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle will bring his Bangladesh Premier League form to this year's IPL.

"He is in good nick...when he gets going, he is a bowler's nightmare. Hope he continues his BPL form in this year's IPL," he said.

Vinay expects that there will be a great atmosphere in the RCB dressing room with players like Gayle and Muralitharan.

"There will be great fun in the dressing room. Muralitharan was my Kochi team-mate ... He is a very nice person," he said.

Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images