Ranganath Vinay Kumar (born 12 February 1984) is a former cricketer who has represented

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) and

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

levels. He is a right-arm medium fast bowler who played domestic cricket for

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and also in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

for

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor b ...

and

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...

. He captained Karnataka to two consecutive

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

titles in 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons. In November 2018, he played in his 100th match in the Ranji Trophy. In August 2019, he moved from Karnataka to

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

, ahead of the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy season. During the first round of matches in the tournament, he took his 400th wicket in the Ranji Trophy. In February 2021, Kumar announced his retirement from all forms of the game.

Personal life

Vinay Kumar was born in

Davangere Davanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly known ...

, on 12 February 1984. He attended a government school in Davangere before graduating from the A.R.G. Arts and Commerce College with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree. Vinay Kumar married Richa Singh on 29 November 2013. Vinay Kumar and Richa Singh were blessed with baby girl on 23 June 2022.

Early career (2004–2010)

Vinay Kumar was selected for

team in the 2004–05 season and made his Debut against Bengal. He was the Ranji Trophy's second-highest wicket-taker in the 2007–08 season, with 40 at an average of 18.52. He was signed by the

for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. He is Affectionately Called as "The Davangere Express" . He is often regarded as the fastest off-spinner in the world to open the bowling for any team. He was the highest wicket taker in the 2009–2010 domestic season. In IPL 2010, he took 16 wickets, the highest among all pace bowlers in the tournament, leading to his selection to play for India in the

2010 ICC World Twenty20 The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was the third ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that was held in the West Indies between 30 April and 16 May 2010. It was won by England, who defeated Australia in the fina ...

in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. He played in one match in the tournament, taking two wickets for 30 runs from four overs in India's five-wicket defeat to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

International career (2010–2021)

In May 2010, after India's elimination from the ICC World Twenty20, Vinay Kumar made his ODI debut against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

, taking 2/51 off eight overs in a six-wicket defeat. He injured his knee before India's next fixture, and was replaced in their squad by

Abhimanyu Mithun Abhimanyu Mithun (born 25 October 1989) is an Indian cricketer. A right-arm fast-medium bowler, Mithun was called up to the India squad for the first Test against South Africa in 2009–10, only ten weeks after making his first-class debut. He ...

. Vinay Kumar returned to the Indian team in October 2010, playing in one ODI of India's three-match series against Australia and taking 0/71 off nine overs. In 2011, Vinay Kumar joined

Kochi Tuskers Kerala Kochi Tuskers Kerala was a franchise cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) representing the city of Kochi, Kerala. The team was one of two new franchises added to the IPL for the 2011 season, alongside Pune Warriors India ...

for the franchise's first and only season in the IPL, having been bought for US$475,000 in the pre-season auction. He also returned to the Indian team, being selected in the limited overs squads for tours of the West Indies and England. He played in the

dead rubber Dead rubber is a term used in sporting parlance to describe a match in a series where the series result has already been decided by earlier matches. The dead rubber match therefore has no effect on the winner and loser of the series, other than the ...

fifth match of the ODI series against the West Indies, taking one for 46 from nine overs. He then played in three ODIs in England, taking two wickets. Later in 2011 he played in four ODIs in India against each of England and the West Indies. In December, at the age of 27, he was called into India's Test squad for the first time as a replacement for the injured

Varun Aaron Varun Raymond Aaron (born 29 October 1989) is an Indian cricketer from Jamshedpur. A right-arm fast bowler, he first played for Jharkhand U-19 followed by Jharkhand Ranji team. He played his first One Day International (ODI) for India in Octo ...

for the 2011–12 tour of Australia. He made his Test debut in the third of the four-match series in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. His opportunity came as India chose to take four pace bowlers into the match, which caused him to be selected ahead of spinner

R Ashwin Ravichandran Ashwin () (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a bowling All-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off-break, he plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic crick ...

. He took one wicket (that of

Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey (born 27 May 1975) is an Australian cricket coach, commentator and former international cricketer, who played all forms of the game. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname 'Mr Cricket'. Hussey was a relative la ...

) for 73 runs in Australia's first and only innings of the match. He was left out of India's team for the fourth and final Test of the series in Adelaide, Ashwin returning to the team in his place. He also played in the T20 match between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

on 3 February 2012. In IPL 2014, he played for Kolkata Knight Riders who traded him to Mumbai Indians before the 2015 season. In the 2018 IPL Auction, he was sold to the

for 1 crore.

Playing style

Cricketing website ''

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

'' compares Vinay Kumar's style of bowling to that of

Venkatesh Prasad Bapu Krishnarao Venkatesh Prasad (; born 5 August 1969), is a former Indian cricketer, Cricket Coach , Commentator who played Tests and ODIs. He made his debut in 1994. Primarily a right-arm medium-fast bowler, Prasad was noted for his bowling ...

, saying that he relies "more on outswingers, legcutters and accuracy, than on outright pace". His lack of pace in his Test debut against Australia in January 2012—bowling at 120 kilometres per hour in his opening spell—was criticised by former Pakistan fast bowler

Wasim Akram Wasim Akram HI (; born 3 June 1966) is a Pakistani cricket commentator, coach, and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. Akram is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time, and several criti ...

as "disappointing". On the other hand, ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' noted about Vinay Kumar's performances in his breakthrough 2010 IPL season: "He doesn’t bowl too fast nor too slow, and he doesn’t have threatening in-swingers or the deliveries that shape away from right-handers. But if there is one art that Vinay Kumar has mastered, it is the all-important one of picking up wickets." In the IPL 2018, Vinay got heavily trolled in social media after he told the trollers to "Chill".

References

External links

*
Vinay Kumar
s profile page on Wisden
Vinay Kumar
at

Vinay Kumar living up to Dhoni's expectations?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Vinay Indian cricketers 1984 births India Twenty20 International cricketers Karnataka cricketers South Zone cricketers Living people People from Davanagere Royal Challengers Bangalore cricketers India Test cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Red cricketers India Blue cricketers Kochi Tuskers Kerala cricketers Cricketers from Karnataka Mumbai Indians cricketers Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2015 Pondicherry cricketers