Vinay Kuma

R Vinay Kumar was given the responsibility of leading Karnataka’s attack after the talented quartet – Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson – retired. A long apprenticeship was followed by his being picked for the Ranji Trophy in 2004-05. He quickly established himself, taking more than 20 wickets in each of his first three seasons. The 2007-08 season has been his best yet, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, with 40. That and a batting strike-rate hovering around 100 in the shorter versions of the game convinced the Bangalore Royal Challengers to get him on board for the Indian Premier League.