When he made his Test debut – against Australia in Adelaide in 2014, Karn Sharma got the nod ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin but he failed to make most of the opportunity.
A few years down the line, the leg-spinner, who plays for Railways in domestic cricket, was included ahead of veteran Harbhajan Singh for the crucial Qualifier 2 match against Kolkata Knight Riders.
This time he made sure to grab the opportunity with both hands with a match-winning spell which powered Mumbai Indians into the IPL final for the fourth time.
Many felt Mumbai Indians’s decision to go into Qualifier 2 against KKR with Karn instead of Harbhajan would prove costly for them.
After all, the 29-year-old UP-born Railways’ bowler was not in Mumbai Indians’ scheme of things in the early part of this tenth edition of the Twenty20 tournament as Harbhajan was entrusted the specialist spinner's slot.
The leggie only got a chance to play in Mumbai’s eighth outing, against Rising Pune Supergiant, after Krunal Pandya suffered an injury.
Besides he had only nine wickets from seven matches to his name going into Qualifier 2, his best being the 3 for 11 against Delhi Daredevils at the Kotla in his third outing.
However, on Friday evening at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, he dispelled all doubts about his ability to deliver in big matches by running through the two-time champions’ top and middle order.
Like he did in his first match at the Wankhede Stadium, when he dismissed Pune’s openers Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi who had put on a 73-run opening stand, he began his demolition act with only his fourth delivery, in the fourth over of the match.
He drew KKR opener Sunil Narine out with a googly, and had him stumped by wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.
He then sent back skipper Gautam Gambhir, on whom KKR’s hopes rested after the exit of both their openers, and Colin de Grandhomme off successive deliveries in his next over.
Three big wickets, but he wasn’t finished yet. He finished his first spell in the ninth over conceding just three runs.
Skipper Rohit Sharma brought him back in the 15th over, with KKR reeling at 83 for 5, and he obliged again. Ishank Jaggi, the only KKR batsman putting up a fight, was beaten by flight, and ended up holing out to Mitchell at long on.
His figures of 4 for 16 included 12 dot deliveries and a solitary four. Those are his best figures in the IPL, his previous best being 4 for 38 against the same opposition in 2014.
Karn’s inclusion in the squad for Friday’s match was certainly not an after-thought by the team management. It was a well-planned move to include the leg spinner in the second half of their campaign.
After all Akash Ambani, son of Mumbai Indians owners Mukesh and Nita Ambani, aggressively bid against Keshav Bansal of Gujarat Lions at the auction to get the spinner, whose base price was Rs 30 lakh, for Rs 3.2 crore.
Karn was also the highest paid uncapped Indian player in the IPL 2014 auction, bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 3.75 crore after heated bidding with Kings XI Punjab.
His exploits have not only earned Mumbai Indians a berth in the IPL 10 final but also given them another chance to avenge a team that has beaten them thrice this year.
He was not included in the playing eleven in the first meeting between the teams at Pune, but figured in the other two and bagged 2 for 39 in the other league match and 1 for 30 in Qualifier 1, both of which were at home.
Talking about his match-winning effort against KKR, Karn said: “I have worked very hard, and I am really happy it is paying off now. I look to take wickets. It was an important game, so my mindset was to take wickets and bowl them out early. The good thing is I am playing a role in my team’s victory, which is very important.”
Barring an injury, the leggie is certain to start in the title clash in Hyderabad on Sunday and he will hope to make it count yet again.
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