IPL playerIndia2008 to 2018
Vinay Kumar
On scorecards: R Vinay Kumar · Right-hand bat
Vinay Kumar, a bowler, played eleven IPL seasons for four franchises. Three titles came along the way.
The arrival
Vinay Kumar was there from the start, in the league's first season, 2008, signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore outside the auction.
That first season brought 8 matches, 25 runs and 5 wickets at 7.80 an over.
The peak
The best season was 2013, for Royal Challengers Bangalore: 23 wickets at 8.32 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 7.51, with best figures of 3 for 18. Three seasons brought 15 wickets or more (2010, 2012 and 2013).
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Royal Challengers Bangalore. 33 matches and 30 wickets.
2011, Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹2.14 cr. 13 matches and 12 wickets.
2012 to 2013, Royal Challengers Bangalore, second time round. Bought at the 2012 auction for ₹5 cr. 30 matches, 138 runs and 42 wickets.
2014, Kolkata Knight Riders. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹2.80 cr. 9 matches and 7 wickets; champions in 2014.
2015 to 2017, Mumbai Indians. Arrived outside the auction. 17 matches and 12 wickets; champions in 2015 and 2017.
2018, Kolkata Knight Riders, second time round. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹1 cr. 2 matches and 2 wickets.
6 spells with four franchises in all. The longest was with Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2008 to 2010.
How the wickets came
With the ball, 105 wickets in 2,138 deliveries, at 8.38 runs an over against a league rate of 7.76 for the same seasons: 0.62 an over more expensive than the typical bowler of the time. There was one four-wicket haul, and the best figures were 4 for 40.
35.9% of the balls Vinay Kumar bowled were dots, a higher share than 59% of the 150 bowlers with 500 balls or more; a wicket came every 20.3 balls.
The fielding record: 32 catches and 13 run-outs.
At the auction
Vinay Kumar went under the hammer six times, bought four times and left unsold twice. The highest price was ₹5 cr (US$1.00m), paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012, more than 10 times the base price. The market cooled over time: the last purchase, in 2018, cost ₹1 cr.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Vinay Kumar made 104 IPL appearances, the last for Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018, and won 3 player-of-the-match awards.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 8 | 25 | 23 | 8.3 | 113.6 | 0/0 | 5 | 7.80 | 3/27 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 11 | 47 | 12 | 11.8 | 106.8 | 0/0 | 9 | 8.38 | 2/30 | 3 | ||
| 2010 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 14 | 27 | 10* | 6.8 | 84.4 | 0/0 | 16 | 8.52 | 4/40 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2011 | Kochi Tuskers Kerala | 13 | 50 | 18 | 8.3 | 106.4 | 0/0 | 12 | 7.50 | 3/25 | 3 | ||
| 2012 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 14 | 68 | 25 | 13.6 | 109.7 | 0/0 | 19 | 8.55 | 3/22 | 5 | ||
| 2013 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 16 | 70 | 26* | 70.0 | 159.1 | 0/0 | 23 | 8.32 | 3/18 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 9 | 4 | 4 | 2.0 | 66.7 | 0/0 | 7 | 8.78 | 2/26 | 1 | Champions | |
| 2015 | Mumbai Indians | 13 | 0 | 0* | 0.0 | – | 0/0 | 7 | 8.43 | 2/26 | 6 | Champions | |
| 2016 | Mumbai Indians | 3 | 13 | 12 | 13.0 | 108.3 | 0/0 | 3 | 7.11 | 2/17 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | Mumbai Indians | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 0/0 | 2 | 10.33 | 2/31 | 0 | Champions | |
| 2018 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2 | 6 | 6* | – | 200.0 | 0/0 | 2 | 16.25 | 2/30 | 2 |
Franchise journey
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 2008 to 2010
- Kochi Tuskers Kerala: 2011
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: 2012 to 2013
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2014
- Mumbai Indians: 2015 to 2017
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 2018
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 37.6% |
| Balls per four | 13.1 |
| Balls per six | 30.4 |
| Dot balls bowled | 35.9% |
| Balls per wicket | 20.3 |
| Catches | 32 |
| Run-outs | 13 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | – | ₹45 lakh | Sold to Kochi Tuskers Kerala for ₹2.14 cr (US$475k) |
| 2012 | – | ₹50 lakh | Sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹5 cr (US$1.00m) |
| 2014 | FA1 | ₹1.50 cr | Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹2.80 cr |
| 2018 | FA2 | ₹1 cr | Sold to Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹1 cr |
| 2019 | Fast Bowler | ₹50 lakh | Unsold |
| 2020 | Fast Bowler | ₹1 cr | Unsold |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet