The Mumbai Indians scouting team has unearthed another gem: Kumar Kartikeya, whose introduction in the line-up helped them defeat the in-form Rajasthan Royals on Saturday evening, and register their first win of the season following 8 losses.
Kumar Kartikeya, who hails from Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is a left-arm “mystery” spinner, as he identifies himself.
The 24-year-old showcased coterie of variations in his debut IPL match. He bowled the regular leg break, the wrong’un, and also the finger-spin carrom ball mixed with a few seam-up deliveries, finishing with brilliant figures of 1/19 in his four-over spell, that included the wicket of RR skipper Sanju Samson, helping MI restrict RR to 158, which they chased down with 5 wickets in hand.
Kumar Kartikeya recently revealed that he hasn’t returned to his home for 9 years! The 24-year-old stated that he’d vowed that he wouldn’t come back home until he made it big in his cricketing career. Now that he’s performed on the IPL stage, and also impressed everyone, he could return back to his parents satisfied with himself.
“I haven’t been home for 9 years. I’d decided to return home only when I achieve something in life. My mom and dad called me frequently, but I was committed. Now finally I’ll return home after the IPL,” Kumar Kartikeya told Dainik Jagran.
It is worth remembering that Kumar Kartikeya was brought in as a replacement only last week for the injured Mohd Arshad Khan. He had been a net bowler with MI before that and after impressing the management was roped in as a replacement and given a game straightaway.
Before making his IPL debut, he had played in just nine first-class matches, 19 List A games, and eight T20s, picking 35, 18 and 9 wickets respectively.
Kumar Kartikeya and off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen were crucial in tying down the RR batters – although Shokeen was walloped for four consecutive sixes by Buttler, he dismissed the RR opener after that – and both got huge praise from skipper Rohit Sharma.
“Both of these guys are quite courageous. When you speak to them, you know that they want to do something special and they don’t want to go into hiding. It gives me the confidence to bowl them at any given stage,” Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation.
In Kumar Kartikeya and Shokeen, Mumbai Indians have found a potent pair for the future to partner Bumrah and Archer.
