He was a member of the team that won the bronze medal at the first World Cup in Barcelona in 1971 and silver at the second World Cup in Amsterdam in 1973. The highlight of his career was the 1975 Hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur where he scored an important goal in the gold medal match for India against Pakistan. On a pass from Surjit Singh, Kumar hit the ball goalwards. The ball hit the corner of the post and bounced out, but for a fraction of a second the ball had been in the goal and, despite protests by Pakistan, the Malaysian umpire confirmed the goal. His fourth and final appearance in the World Cup was in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina when India was relegated to sixth position.