Mystery bowler who foxed Knight Riders

BENGALURU: The media room went into a tizzy when the bidding war for KC Cariappa got really serious. "KC Cariappa who?" enquired journalists, many caught off guard by the events unfolding at the venue.
The first inkling to his possible foray into IPL came on Sunday when it was indicated that he had been included for the auction at the insistence of Kolkata Knight Riders.
Venky Mysore, CEO and MD of KKR, explained after the auction that his team of spotters had seen the lad perform in the Karnataka Premier League and had been impressed.
Young Cariappa, 20, a wiry Kodava lad, grew up in the industrial suburbs of Peenya on the western outskirts of the city. He had played a lot of tennis ball cricket which had strengthened his fingers even as he experimented with the carom ball and other variations. Cariappa first played with a regular cricket ball only at 16 when he joined Jawahars Sports Club.
Later, he signed with Bijapur Bulls in the KPL and he did a good job. AR Srikkanth, performance and strategies analyst with KKR liked what he saw of him. West Indies spinner Sunil Narine also appreciated Cariappa's bowling and KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir told the owners to sign up the bowler, whatever the cost.