IPL 2014: Karn Sharma - worth 3.75 crores?

Karn Sharma

Honestly, even the hardcore fan of cricket really did not know much about Karn Sharma before yesterday. He was an unknown all rounder playing for the Railways cricket team. But then destiny struck and Karn got into the limelight as one of the highest paid uncapped players chosen in the auction for IPL season 7. He has been taken by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping fee of Rs. 3.75 crores (not a bad sum for just his second season!).

Well, there are a lot of fans who think that this has been too big a stake put on a lesser known player, but definitely the scouts of Sunrisers Hyderabad must have noticed some hidden spark in Karn Sharma. It will be interesting to see how he performs. Let us have a quick look at his background.

Karn Vinod Sharma was born on 23.10.1987 in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He is an all rounder – a right arm leg break googly bowler and a left hand batsman. He is known to be a good fielder as well. In the 25 first class matches he has played so far, his batting average is fairly good – 25.96. Likewise, he has been able to maintain a good bowling average of 27.51. His best bowling figures read 8/97. His leg break bowling is stated to be real difficult for the batsman to handle.

He has also got 10 catches to his credit till date. On his first class debut against J&K in 2007-08, he had scored 120 runs in 232 balls with 17 boundaries, and as a result of which Railways won the match by an innings and 88 runs. He did fairly well in IPL while playing for Sunrisers Hyderbad in 2013. He had a chance to learn a lot in a team having a bowling line-up comprising of Dale Steyn, Thisara Perera and Amit Mishra.

Karn Sharma played a total of 13 matches during last season and was able to take 11 wickets with an impressive economy rate of 6.60 – which is in fact very good for a spinner. He had his best performance in IPL 6 against Kings XI, when his brilliant figures of 2/19 in three overs restricted Punjab to a mere 123 runs. It turned out to be smooth sailing for Sunrisers Hyderabad and this helped in establishing Karn Sharma’s place in the team. He has been able to contribute with his bat as well – thus proving true to his expected utility.

Even in the Ranji Trophy this year, he scored a couple of fifties and took 15 wickets in 8 matches. He is known to be a clever bowler who has got the tremendous ability to slow down the run rate. This committed and hard working player has paved his way to success through his sweat and toil. Based on his sheer dedication, he has reached new heights.