MCA's CIC chief Raju Kulkarni lavishes praise on Karthik Kumar

Ex-India pacer Raju Kulkarni at the MCA-BKC ground on Monday. Pic/Shadab Khan; (right) All-rounder Karthik Kumar. Pic/By Special Arrangement

Ahead of the Mumbai Cricket Association's (MCA) upcoming season of the T20 Mumbai League (TML), MCA has provided cricketers an opportunity to showcase their talent and get noticed by performing well in the Champions Trophy [CT], which began at the MCA-BKC ground on Monday. Also, the 120-plus players, who are playing the CT, will receive R5000 per match.

Though the eight teams mainly include U-23 and U-19 players, MCA has made an exception for promising 16-year-old pace bowling all-rounder Karthik Kumar by picking him. MCA's Cricket Improvement Committee [CIC] chief and former India Test pacer Raju Kulkarni lavished praise on Karthik.

"Karthik's bouncer is about 130-135 kmph. He's a good batsman and a good fielder too. He has batted well, taken five wickets [he scored 610 runs and claimed 22 wickets in the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy] and won matches for the Mumbai U-16 team. He is the best prospect we have as an all-rounder," Kulkarni said after inaugurating the first edition of the CT. Last season, Karthik also got an opportunity to represent the Mumbai U-23 team in two CK Nayudu Trophy matches, in which he claimed six wickets.

Former Mumbai captain Kulkarni, who was rated as the fastest bowler in the country during his playing days in the 1980s, also had some words of advice for the promising teenager: "He's in the limelight and everyone has high expectations from him, so he can be bogged down. The best thing is to climb the ladder gradually. And that's what we're trying to do. As he starts performing, he will climb the ladder faster."