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The Indian domestic season for cricket is set to begin with the forthcoming Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to take place from August 23 and will run till September 10, 2026, at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Ahead of the domestic season, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has appointed its new head coach, R Vinay Kumar, for the 2026/27 season.
The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer will take over from Yere Goud. R Vinay Kumar has played the majority of his career for his birthplace, and this is a big opportunity for the pace bowler to guide Karnataka to a good domestic season, as they were the finalists in the Ranji Trophy last season.
EX-RCB pacer Vinay Kumar's appointed as Karnataka coach
R Vinay Kumar will be taking charge from the very beginning of the season, and he will have the support of former Karnataka batter Deepak Chougule, who will be part of his support staff as fielding coach. Vinay Kumar has the experience of coaching in Karnataka’s local league named Maharaj T20 Trophy.
Vinay Kumar was in charge of Hubli Tigers in the recent tournament, and apart from that, he has been coaching in other franchise leagues across the world. The former pacer was a bowling coach with MI Emirates in the UAE's ILT20. He had also been a TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) scout for Mumbai Indians after retiring from first-class and international cricket in 2021.
With vast and extensive coaching and scouting experience, Vinay will look for a good season under his belt. He has been a sensational domestic player and knows the circuit well, and with him being associated with one of the franchises in the Maharaja T20 League, it will be much easier for the former cricketer to guide his state team.
Yere Goud's record as domestic coach
Yere Goud has had two separate stints as the head coach of the Karnataka State Cricket Association senior men's team and a role with the national youth setup. He served a four-to-five-year tenure as head coach of the senior men's state side from 2018 to 2022. Then again in 2024, he was reappointed and guided the team to the final.
He also worked as the head coach for the Andhra Cricket Association for a domestic season in 2022-23 season. Goud coached the state Under-23 team to a historic, maiden CK Nayudu Trophy title. Later in 2025, he was appointed head coach of the India U-19 team for their tour of Australia.
Vinay Kumar's career
Vinay Kumar leads the chart in the Ranji Trophy with 442 wickets, the most among the pacers in the tournament and the fifth highest overall in India's premier domestic competition. He picked 504 first-class wickets in 139 matches at an average of 22.44.
He made his debut for India back in 2010 against Sri Lanka, and Vinay captained Karnataka to an unprecedented double-treble of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Cup from 2013 to 2015. He featured in 31 ODIs for India. Vinay was part of IPL-winning sides at Kolkata Knight Riders (2014) and the Mumbai Indians (2015 and 2017).
