Krishnappa Gowtham had a surprise in store when he was picked by Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore against a base price of Rs 10 lakh at the IPL auction earlier this year
Krishnappa Gowtham
Krishnappa Gowtham had a surprise in store when he was picked by Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore against a base price of Rs 10 lakh at the IPL auction earlier this year. That was a just reward for the Karnataka off-spinner for claiming 28 wickets in the Ranji Trophy earlier that season. Though he did not get to play in any match in the IPL, the selectors kept faith in him and picked him for the recently concluded India 'A' team's Test series in South Africa and subsequently in the ongoing Duleep Trophy.
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Gowtham after playing one 'A' Test in South Africa, got the opportunity to show his skills on a slow turner in Lucknow yesterday, when he grabbed five wickets to send India Green in a spin along with leg-spinner Karn Sharma. The spin duo shared nine wickets between them as India Red skittled out India Green for 157.
Gowtham had initially moulded his action on Harbahjan Singh's and was so similar to the India off-spinner that the beleaguered Australians asked him to bowl in the nets before the Bangalore Test in October 2008 to counter the wily offie. Though that brought Gowtham into the limelight, his career was not making any headway. He finally decided to change his action and be his own man. Then, he had a stint with legendary off-spinner Erapalli Prasanna during a camp and learnt the nuances of spin bowling. Thereafter, he went on to play for Karnataka Under-23 and then Ranji Trophy but with little success. In fact he was sent into wilderness in 2013 after he conceded over 200 runs in a match against Saurashtra in which Cheteshwar Pujara got a triple hundred.
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