Full Name

Vaman Viswanath Kumar

Born

June 22, 1935, Madras (now Chennai)

Age

88y 271d

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Legbreak Googly

An orthodox leg spinner in the classical mould who got a raw deal from the selectors, Kumar in his prime was the best of his type in the country. A master of spin, line and length, he seemed the logical successor to Subash Gupte. After a series of notable performances in the Ranji Trophy, he made his Test debut against Pakistan at New Delhi in 1960-61 and almost bowled India to victory by capturing five for 64 and two for 68. On the eve of his next Test, against England the following season, he was injured. But he was forced to play because of the opponents' traditional weakness against leg spin bowling. He failed, going wicketless for 70 runs. That remarkably was his last Test. Perhaps the advent of BS Chandrasekhar had something to do with Kumar not being considered again but he remained a fine bowler throughout the sixties and for much of the seventies. He was a regular wicket-taker and in 1970-71 he was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in the Ranji Trophy and four years later became the first to top the 400 wicket mark. He now runs the MAC Spin Academy in Chennai. (Partab Ramchand)

Vaman Kumar Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50s6sCtSt
Tests220663.0000020
FC12913648673317.6400-400

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests2360520275/647/13228.852.0086.4010
FC129-30082119735999/76-19.982.3850.2-368
Vaman Viswanath Kumar

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Debut/Last Matches of Vaman Kumar

Recent Matches of Vaman Kumar

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
South Zone vs West Zone10*1/37 & 1/2602-Jan-1971BrabourneFC
Rest of Ind vs Bombay32/49 & 1/1619-Dec-1970Eden GardensFC
South Zone vs Australians0*2/34 & 0/1020-Dec-1969BangaloreFC
South Zone vs West Zone3 & 3*3/74 & 0/5328-Feb-1969Hyderabad (Deccan)FC
South Zone vs Central Zone--0/3012-Jan-1963BangaloreFC

Photos of Vaman Kumar

Moin-ud-Dowla Trophy, SBI v VST Colts, 1976-77