KC Cariappa

KC Cariappa is another of those rare species called mystery spinners, who turned heads when he attracted a bid of Rs 2.4 Crores from the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2015 IPL auction. Prior to the auction, he was a relatively unknown figure as he had not played a single First-Class or List A match.

Cariappa went for trials with KKR before the 2014 CLT20, thus putting him on the team's radar. However, he shot to fame in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL). The T20 tournament played between franchises in Karnataka was telecast on national television in 2014. Cariappa played for Bijapur Bulls in that tournament and picked up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 6. He has been a part of the Karnataka under-19 squad and also a part of the probable Ranji team list.

IPL through the years

Mystery bowlers are always effective and some franchises simply love to have them in their roster - none more than Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). When the Karnataka spinner troubled Gautam Gambhir & co. at the KKR trial camp, they were so impressed that the franchise bought him in the 2015 IPL auctions - at 24 times his base price, which was 10 lakh rupees. It turned out to be a bitter-sweet experience. He got to play one one match, against Royal Challengers Bangalore and bowled two overs for 28 runs - although he did dismiss AB de Villiers.

Released from his contract in 2016, Cariappa was bought by Kings XI Punjab for 80 lakhs where he featured in a handful of games. Cariappa went unsold ahead of the 2019 event, but a good run for Karnataka in the following Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament meant he was called-up by KKR as an injury replacement for Shivam Mavi. He played only one game in the 2019 season before being forced into obscurity again. But RR seemed interested in him and bid for him ahead of IPL 2021. He was purchased for 20 Lakhs INR. He didn't get a game in that edition and has been with RR ever since.

Cricbuzz staff