The right-arm medium pacer first drew attention for his performances for Mumbai under-17s in 2005-06 and made his first-class debut in 2008.
A former India under-19 representative, Kulkarni was included in the Test squad for the New Zealand tour in 2009 but could not break into the team in that series.
Kulkarni’s breakthrough came in 2014 when he was chosen for an ODI against England in September 2014 at Birmingham.
He failed to collect a wicket in that outing but returned later that year to take career best figures of 4-34 against Sri Lanka.