Birthday special: Vinay Kumar – Domestic giant who couldn’t sparkle at the international level
One of the most hard-working Indian domestic cricketers, R Vinay Kumar is celebrating his 37th birthday today. Unlike in domestic cricket, the veteran pacer could not make his mark in international cricket. A seam and swing bowler who relies on his line and length, Vinay Kumar made his debut in international cricket in 2010 during an ODI against Zimbabwe.
In the same year, he made his T20I debut too and a couple of years later, he made his Test debut which was also his last. His last appearance in international cricket came in 2013. Overall, he played 31 ODIs, 9 T20Is and a solitary Test and picked up a total of 49 wickets across formats. Vinay Kumar was given a decent run in international cricket but he failed to grab the opportunity.
Domestic highlights
His failure to do well in international cricket has left many surprised and rightly so as Vinay Kumar is one of the greatest bowlers in Indian domestic cricket’s history. No other pacer in India’s history has taken more wickets than Vinay Kumar in Ranji Trophy. So far, he has picked up 442 wickets in India’s premier first-class tournament. Overall, he has picked up 504 wickets in 139 first-class games at an impressive average of 22.44.
Vinay Kumar’s journey in Ranji Trophy began with Karnataka in 2004. Fondly called ‘The Davangere Express’, Vinay Kumar was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2007/08 Ranji Trophy season and topped the charts for the first time in 2009/10 season. He served Karnataka for 15 years before leaving the team for Puducherry in 2019.
Apart from his exploits with the ball for Karnataka, he will be also remembered as the man who led the team to an unprecedented double-treble – of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup – from 2013 to 2015. Kumar ended his association with Karnataka as a player as one of their greatest. He picked up 410 first-class wickets for Karnataka at 22.20 apiece, by far the most for any bowler from the state, and with 21 five-wicket hauls in an innings.
In List A cricket, he picked up 121 wickets at 19.69 for the team while in T20s, he accounted for 54 scalps at 21.70. With the bat, he scored 2582 runs at 22.25 for Karnataka including two centuries and 12 fifties in addition to scoring 4 List A fifties too.
When Vinay Kumar left Karnataka for Puducherry in a player-cum-mentor role, it was believed that he would not be able to perform in his usual manner. But then again form is temporary and class is permanent as he proved his detractors wrong by finishing the 2019/20 season as Puducherry’s top wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy with 45 wickets from nine games at an average of 11.31. Vinay Kumar is in the twilight of his illustrious career and it does not matter how he performs in the remaining days, he will go down as one of the stalwarts in India’s domestic arena.
