Former India Pacer Vinay Kumar Appointed Karnataka Head Coach for 2026-27 Domestic Season

Former India player Vinay Kumar has been appointed as the head coach of Karnataka for the upcoming domestic season. The 42-year-old seamer will take over from Yere Goud while former Karnataka batter Deepak Chougule will join him as part of the support staff and he will take over the fielding coach’s role.

Vinay Kumar who played for the Karnataka cricket team and even captained the team to back-to-back Ranji Trophy final wins in 2013-14 and 2014-15 will wear the coach’s hat for the first time in his career. Although he has some experience as the coach in the T20 franchise level, the head coach at Karnataka will be his first major assignment. He has also previously worked as the bowling coach for the MI Emirates in the UAE’s ILT20 league.

Since announcing his retirement from international cricket and domestic cricket in 2021, Vinay Kumar almost immediately took on other roles and has been deeply associated with the game. He played an instrumental role for Mumbai Indians IPL team as the talent scout.

Vinay is still among one of the leading wicket-takes in domestic cricket; he has taken over 440 scalps in Ranji Trophy and he is also among the top five overall wicket takers in India's premier domestic cricket tournament.

Overall, the Karnataka pacer has 504 first-class wickets in 139 matches and has an average of 22.44. After making his debut for India, Vinay went on to become the captain of Karnataka and he led the team with aplomb, winning all the major tournaments in the domestic circuit including Irani Cup, Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Ranji Trophy.

Apart from representing India in international colours in both Test and ODis, Vinay was part of the IPL-winning squads at Kolkata Knight Riders (2014) and the Mumbai Indian (2015, 2017). Karnataka who were the runner-up in the previous season, will begin their Ranji Trophy campaign against Andhra on October 11.