Former India seamer Vinay Kumar has been appointed Karnataka's head coach for the upcoming domestic season. Vinay, 42, will take over from Yere Goud while former Karnataka batter Deepak Chougule will be part of his support staff as fielding coach.
This will be Vinay's first assignment as head coach at Karnataka after he had been in charge of Hubli Tigers in the recent Maharaja T20 Trophy. He also has franchise T20 coaching experience at a higher level, having been a bowling coach with MI Emirates in the UAE's ILT20. Vinay had also been an IPL talent scout at Mumbai Indians after retiring from first-class and international cricket in 2021.
Vinay is still the leading wicket-taker among seamers in the Ranji Trophy with 442 strikes and fifth highest overall in India's premier domestic competition. In all, he took 504 first-class wickets in 139 matches at an average of 22.44. After making his international debut for India, Vinay captained Karnataka to an unprecedented double-treble - of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup - from 2013 to 2015.
Apart from playing one Test and 31 ODIs for India, Vinay was part of IPL-winning sides at Kolkata Knight Riders (2014) and the Mumbai Indians (2015 and 2017).
Karnataka, previous year's runners-up, will begin their 2026-27 Ranji Trophy campaign against Andhra on October 11.