IPL 2019: Kolkata Knight Riders rope in KC Cariappa for upcoming season

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), captained by Dinesh Karthik, found themselves in some trouble even before the start of the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Their fast bowling duo of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi has been ruled out of the T20 tournament owing to injuries. However, the franchise didn’t panic and called upon Sandeep Warrier as a replacement.

The Knight Riders also have called up 16-year-old Jammu and Kashmir rookie fast bowler Mujtaba Yousuf for trials after his impressive shows in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. In the meantime, it has also been learned that Kolkata has drafted in off-spin bowler KC Cariappa from Karnataka for the next season of the event as per reports in The Quint.

Cariappa’s IPL stint

The tweaker has experience of playing in the cash-rich T20 league. Back in 2015, the Knights itself shelled out INR 2.4 crores for the 24-year-old. Nevertheless, he got to play only a solitary match in that season against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata where he got rid of the dangerous AB de Villiers, who threatened with 28 runs from 13 balls.

In the 2016 edition of the tournament, he went to Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), but couldn’t quite make much of an impact, having picked up three wickets in five matches at an average of 53. The last season also didn’t go well for the Bangalore-born cricketer as he could prize out only four scalps in as many matches.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he was a part of the victorious Karnataka team and was in decent touch with the ball in hand. Cariappa picked up 10 wickets in 11 matches at an economy rate of 5.02. His best figures of 4/15 came against Odisha in Cuttack last month. He would be keen to do well in the IPL as well.

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