The IPL auction has made an unknown name into a millionaire, yet again. Karnataka Premier League spinner gets picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders.
KC Cariappa, cricket - try searching that name on the internet. Before this year's IPL auctions, that name wouldn't have given you much search results but today, it's a different story. Meet KC Cariappa, the latest millionaire in Indian cricket. While all the limelight has been focused on Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik, the Kolkata Knight Riders bought this 20-year-old lspinner from Karnataka for a massive Rs. 2.4 crore.
Not many Indian fans know him, but the IPL teams surely do. Starting from a base price of Rs 10 lakh, Cariappa stirred some severe interest among the teams. The bidding war got intense between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata and finally, Knight Riders landed the man from Hubli at a whopping price. (
IPL 2015 Player Auctions Live Updates)
According to former India cricketer Aakash Chopra, Cariappa served as a video analyst for the Knight Riders last season.
Hence, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise was aware of Cariappa's talent and wanted him to be a part of their outfit.
A regular feature for the Bijapur Bulls, Cariappa has been a prolific wicket-taker for the Karnataka Premier League side and took 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6. He had a bowling average of 12. His best bowling figures was four for 19 against Rockstars. The uncapped spinner is yet to make his debut for Karnataka in any domestic competition.
Cariappa's story is similar to that of another spinner in the IPL -- Pravin Tambe. The Rajasthan Royal player was a regular in Mumbai's local competitions and was picked up during by the franchise while he was playing a local T20 game. (
Yuvraj Singh Happy to Play for Delhi Daredevils)
"Where talent meets opportunity" - that's what is etched on the base of the Indian Premier League trophy and keeping up to its promise of promoting Indian talent, the IPL, over the years, have thrown up multiple unknown names. It's a tournament where fairytales are made and the eighth edition promises to script another.
KKR Chief Executive Venky Mysore revealed that Cariappa would not in fact come into the team as an unknown commodity: "He was with us during the CLT20 and was bowling in the nets. Our top batsmen, and even a legend like Jacques Kallis, hold him in high regard," he said at the press conference after the auction.
Representational Image. Reuters
If Cariappa has managed impressing a fine player like Kallis and was deemed good enough to travel with the KKR team during the CLT20, then he's probably just a mystery to the rest of us — not the team management. Expect him to be thrown into the mix immediately.
- In the recent Karnataka Premier League, Cariappa took 11 wickets for Bijapur Bulls in six matches. And his figures are quite impressive in T20 terms: 0/26, 2/20, 0/23, 4/19, 3/15 and 2/29. He was part of Karnataka's preliminary squad for the
Ranji Trophy. He's certainly got his foot stuck in the door — and a good
IPL season will go a long way to opening it.
- Basically Cariappa is a leg-spinner — and has been compared to Ajantha Mendis and Narine. He denies the comparison though. Cariappa is all over the news now — but it's hard to even find a single picture of the youngster. The plot thickens.
- A
Mint article quotes him as saying: "I began by playing tennis ball cricket. Leather ball cricket happened by chance, and once I started bowling with the leather ball, the people around me encouraged me to bowl. My stock delivery is the leg spinner and I bowl the carrom ball and I am working harder on my off-spin."
- Finally, and in case you're wondering — the KC in his name stands for Konganda Charamanna. Oh, and he's also richer than most 20-year-olds (Cariappa turns 21 six days into the
IPL's eighth season).
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