Vinay Kumar appointed Karnataka head coach ahead of upcoming domestic season

Former India cricketer Vinay Kumar has been named head coach of Karnataka for the upcoming domestic season. Kumar replaces Yere Goud at the helm, while former Karnataka batter Deepak Chougule will serve as fielding coach. Kumar recently also served as Hubli Tigers’ head coach in the Maharaja T20 Trophy, and it will be his first assignment as head coach at Karnataka.

Kumar also has a wealth of franchise T20 coaching experience, having been a bowling coach with MI Emirates in the ILT20. He had also served as an IPL talent scout for Mumbai Indians after hanging up his boots from first-class and international cricket in 2021.

The 42-year-old is still the highest wicket-taker among seamers in the Ranji Trophy with 442 scalps to his name and also the fourth-highest overall in the tournament. He scalped 504 first-class wickets in total from 139 matches at an average of 22.44.

The right-arm seamer made his international debut for India in 2010 and played one Test, 31 ODIs and nine T20Is, scalping 49 wickets in total. Under his leadership, Karnataka reached great heights as he led them to a historic double-treble - of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup- from 2013 to 2015.

Karnataka to begin campaign on October 11

He also played 104 matches in his IPL career and scalped 105 wickets at an average of 28.24 with best figures of 4/40. Kumar was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) winning campaign in 2014 and the Mumbai Indians in 2015 and 2017.

Karnataka finished as runners-up in the previous edition of the Ranji Trophy, losing to Jammu & Kashmir. They will begin their 2026-27 Ranji Trophy campaign against Andhra on October 11.