Krishnappa Gowtham stresses on how an Aussie legend transformed him

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has proved to be a stepping stone for the budding cricketers in the country as they are given an opportunity to rub shoulders with the legends of the game. Very few grab the chance and shine at the highest level and Krishnappa Gowtham is surely one of them. While playing for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) earlier this year he displayed his prowess and has credited Shane Warne, their mentor, for his transformation.

The franchise had bagged his services in the mega-auction in January this year for a whopping amount of Rs 6.20 Crores. He also repaid the faith shown in him by winning a couple of close matches with the bat and then opened the bowling attack for his team more often than not. He also scalped the wickets of some of the big players like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers and proved that he is a big match player and has an ability to represent the country in the near future.

It was easy to connect with him

Krishnappa Gowtham recalled how Shane Warne helped him grow as a cricketer after taking over the mentorship of the Royals. He had a keen eye on the youngster as he was one of the best players in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) last year and had made up his mind to bring the best out of Gowtham in the IPL which he almost did.

“Can you imagine, a legend who has 1000 international wickets coming to me and saying ‘KG, you’re my project for IPL 2018’? I was glad he had seen what I’d done previously. Initially, I was like ‘okay, what does he expect from me?’ But I realised how easy it was to connect with him at a human level. It was just like two individuals having an easy-going discussion where there is communication from both sides,” he was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo.

He didn’t tell me to change anything

Gowtham also revealed that the legendary leg-spinner of Australia didn’t advice him anything related to his game and wanted him to play the same way he loves to do. “Shane didn’t tell me to change anything with my batting or bowling. It was more on mental strength and how you come back from tough situations. How your mindset has to always remain as if nothing is wrong – whether you take 4 for 20 or 0 for 48. He kept saying ‘pause, think over, what best can be done,” he added.

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