IPL 2018: Karn Sharma's different kind of a hat-trick
The Men in Yellow made a remarkable comeback by winning the 2018 IPL title in an emphatic fashion. Entering the league after a two-year hiatus, the Chennai Super Kings proved why they are the 'undisputed kings of the IPL'. 'Thala' Dhoni once again led them from the front. The league missed them and most importantly the fans were craving to witness their heroes in the Yellow jersey once again.
Chennai got the better of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL final to win their third IPL title- a record matched only by the Mumbai Indians. Almost all the players contributed to the team's success this season. For winning a tournament like IPL, you have to be consistent throughout the season and the Super Kings did rightly so.
But there is one thing which needs to be noticed. The Indian leg-spinner, Karn Sharma who was part of the title-winning CSK squad created a remarkable feat, guess what? By winning the 2018 IPL, Karn has made it a hat-trick of IPL titles (2016, 2017 and 2018) and is now regarded as the new lucky charm of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Let us now look at look at his dream IPL journey!
The IPL journey
Karn represented three different franchises before joining the Chennai Super Kings in 2018- the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians. He began his IPL journey with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2009 and was a part of the squad that finished as the runners-up under the legendary, Anil Kumble. Unfortunately, he did not get an opportunity to don the RCB jersey in the entire 2009 season.
Karn, who made his IPL debut in 2013, became the highest paid uncapped player at the 2014 auctions when he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 3.75 crore. In 2016, he won the title with Sunrisers Hyderabad under David Warner but failed to pick up any wicket in five matches he played in that edition of the IPL. Owing to his poor run, he was released by the Orange army prior to the 2017 auctions where he was bought by INR 3.2 crore.
Karn played a crucial role in Mumbai's title win (a record third title) by picking up 13 wickets in nine matches at an impressive economy of 6.97. After being released by Rohit's men, he was bought by the Chennai Super Kings for INR 5 crore at the 2018 auctions. Karn played six matches for Chennai throughout the season in which he took four wickets at an economy of 9.36.
Though he had a poor season, he was selected ahead of Harbhajan in the finals, where he finished with the figures of 1/25 in 3 overs. He once again turned out to be lucky for his new franchise who defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the summit clash.This was Karn's third successive IPL title (2016, 2017 and 2018).
Overall, the leggie has played 61 IPL matches scoring 316 runs and picking up 53 wickets at an economy of 7.76, with his best figures being 4/16. Winning three successive titles is quite a rare feat for any player. Congrats Karn- the lucky charm! The Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab might go for the Meerut man next season to turn their fortunes around. Will it be an unprecedented four in a row for Karn next year? Well, we have to wait and watch.