Vinay Kumar, also known as Ranganath Vinay Kumar, is an Indian cricket player who has represented India at One Day International, Test and Twenty20 levels. He has also been a part of domestic cricket in which he plays for Karnataka and Indian Premier League. He is a right-arm medium fast bowler. Vinay Kumar`s performance in domestic as well as international cricket has been appreciated for his skills in bagging wickets. Presently he is accredited among the top 5 pacers of India.
Early Life of Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar was born on 12th February 1984 in Davangere, Karnataka. His father worked as an auto rickshaw driver. He completed his schooling from a government school in Davangere and later graduated from the A. R. G. Arts and Commerce College with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
Career of Vinay Kumar
Vinay Kumar began his career by being a part of Ranji Trophy team in the 2004-05 season representing Karnataka and made his debut against Bengal. In the 2007-08 season he became the Ranji Trophy`s second-highest wicket-taker with 40 an average of 18.52. In the year 2008 he was signed for the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) by the Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was affectionately named as the Davangere Express.
Later in the 2009-2010 domestic season of Ranji and Duleep trophies he became the highest wicket taker. In the year 2010 IPL, he bagged 16 wickets which marked the highest score among all pace bowlers in the tournament. This led to his selection for playing in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies. In the tournament he played just one match grabbing two wickets for 30 runs from four overs helping the team to achieve their five wicket victory over Sri Lanka.
In May 2010, after the elimination of India from ICC World Twenty20, Vinay Kumar debuted in One Day International (ODI) against Zimbabwe in Harare in which he bagged 2/51 off eight overs in a six-wicket defeat. However in the next match he got a knee injury and was replaced by Abhimanyu Mithun. Vinay Kumar made his way back to the Indian team in October 2010 and played in one ODI of India`s three-match series against Australia. He joined Kochi Tuskers Kerala for the first season of the franchise in IPL in 2011. He was also a part of the Indian team in the limited overs squads for tours of the West Indies and England. Vinay Kumar played in the dead rubber fifth match of the ODI series against West Indies and grabbed one for 46 from nine overs. Next he played in three ODIs in England and in 2011 he was a part of four ODIs in India against each of England and the West Indies.
He was called into the Test squad of India for the first time in the 2011-12 tour of Australia as a replacement of the injured Varun Aaron. The third of the four match series in Perth marked his Test debut. In the year 2012 he played in the T20 match between Australia and India. He represented Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2014 IPL.
