Professional Details
| Role | Bowler |
| Bats | right handed . lower order |
| Bowls | right-arm medium . Faster |
Teams played for
Karnataka Board Presidents XI Royal Challengers Bangalore India Kochi Tuskers Kerala India A South Zone East Zone India Blue Kolkata Knight Riders Mumbai Indians Belagavi Panthers Hubli Tigers Puducherry
Personal Details
| Name | Vinay Kumar |
| Gender | Male |
| Birth | 12 Feb 1984 |
| Birth Place | Davanagere, Karnataka |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in |
| Nationality | Indian |
Vinay Kumar was a swing bowler who relied more on slower balls, especially on leg cutters that made him one of the finest Indian pacers to have played in the Indian Premier League. Hailing from a small town named Davanagere in Karnataka, Vinay made his First-Class debut back in the 2004-05 season and donned the Indian colors in one Test, 31 ODIs, and nine T20s. ... continue reading
Vinay Kumar was a swing bowler who relied more on slower balls, especially on leg cutters that made him one of the finest Indian pacers to have played in the Indian Premier League. Hailing from a small town named Davanagere in Karnataka, Vinay made his First-Class debut back in the 2004-05 season and donned the Indian colors in one Test, 31 ODIs, and nine T20s.
Since his debut for Karnataka, the seamer emerged as the go-to bowler for the state team. However, the seamer’s breakthrough came during 2007-08 where Vinay was Karnataka’s second-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy. A successful season with the red ball meant the seamer was drafted into the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s squad for the inaugural season of the IPL.
Vinay continued to impress both in domestic and IPL, he performed wonders during the 2009-10 Ranji Trophy season where he bagged 46 wickets and led his side to the final of the tournament. The seamer was awarded in 2010 and called by the national selectors for the Indian contingent to play in World T20 in West Indies. After his international debut, Vinay secured a whopping sum of USD 475,000 during the 2011 IPL auctions as he was picked by Kochi Tuckers. Then shifted back to Bangalore to have a couple of brilliant seasons with RCB, before playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2014 and Mumbai Indians in 2015.
Meanwhile, he contributed highly to Karnataka’s emergence in the last decade or so. Vinay led them to the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and the Irani Cup titles for two successive seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15, apart from contributing with wickets. The seamer was Karnataka's leading wicket-taker in the 2015-16 domestic season but they failed to get to the knockout stage. As the seamer’s graph was rocking upwards in the domestic circles and Indian T20 league, Vinay failed to secure a permanent berth in the Indian setup.
The Davangere Express went through grind till the end of 2019-20 domestic season, with the hope of representing his nation again, but could not. After being a potent force for Karnataka, Vinay decided to shift to Puducherry to have a one-year stint in 2019 before he hung up his boots in 2021. Vinay might haven’t replicated his potential on the highest level but was one of the finest to have ever played in Indian domestic.
(As of May 2021)