Former India and Karnataka pacer Vinay Kumar has joined the Mumbai Indians setup as the talent scout, the franchise have announced on July 29. MI owner Akash Ambani was delighted to have Vinay Kumar on board and he is confident about him doing well. Vinay Kumar said he was ‘honoured’ for this opportunity to be associated with the five-time champions once again.
Vinay had announced his retirement from all cricket earlier this year. He played 41 international games for India (1 Test, 31 ODIs and 9 T20Is) but he was a consistent performer in the domestic circuit. He led Karnataka to a couple of Ranji title. Kumar also played a couple of seasons of domestic cricket for Puducherry (in 2019-20 and 2020-21).
The Davanagere-born pacer was also a part of the Mumbai Indians set up as a player and even won the IPL title in 2015 and 2017. Overall, he played 105 matches in the IPL and returned with 105 wickets.
He now joins the Indians as the talent scout and Akash Ambani, the owner of the franchise, is delighted to have the veteran fast bowler on board. He was confident that Kumar will add value to the system as well.
I am delighted to have Vinay join our talent scout program. Mumbai Indians is established on strong fundamentals of discovering talent and belief in nurturing youth. I am confident Vinay will add value to our ideology and scouting strength.
the owner of MI Akash Ambani was quoted saying.
Meanwhile, Vinay Kumar himself was honoured to link up with MI once again. He feels it’s the right time to start a new chapter in his life and it’s time for him to give back to cricket.
I am honoured for this opportunity to associate with Mumbai Indians again. Mumbai Indians strive for excellence in every aspect of the game, and scouting talents is undoubtedly their key strength. It’s a new chapter, and personally I reckon it as an opportunity for me to give back to cricket.
Vinay Kumar added.
Back in December 2020, former India wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel was also named as the talent scout.
