Karn Sharma hopes to be on the money

Hyderabad : After the Sunrisers spent a whopping rs 3.75 crore to pick him at this year’s IPL auction, Karn Sharma is doubly determined to do well for the Hyderabad franchise. “I loved playing for Sunrisers last season and am excited to be playing for them again. The amount of confidence shown by the management on my abilities has humbled me and I would like to justify their faith shown on me,” the highest sold uncapped Indian player told this correspondent.

For someone who has grown up in the streets of Meerut and has a humble upbringing, money does matter for Karn. But for the Uttar Pradesh cricketer money is not everything. “When I cross over the ropes and enter the ground it’s all about performance. I don’t think of money when I am playing. I concentrate on my bowling and help my team win the match,” Karn said. In the last year’s IPL season Karn picked up 13 wickets from 13 matches at an economy rate of 6.60 and looks to better his performance in this edition’s IPL. “I had a good season last year and hope to make the most of my chances in this edition of the IPL as well. Last year we got close to winning the IPL and hopefully we win it this time around,” he said.

Karn looks upto Darren Sammy, the explosive all rounder from the Caribbean Islands for inspiration. “Sammy is someone who constantly looks out for me and helps me with his advice on bowling and various other aspects of the game,” Sharma said. For a leg spinner Karn has an unconventional hurried run up to the crease and he also lacks the pivot in his bowling. But over the years he has developed the leg breaks that turns square and rips past the right handers off stump.

When you have the likes of Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma in your team a bowler’s role tends to differ. And Karn is happy with the role given to him. “With Mishy bhai (Amit Mishra) attacking at the other end, I know my role is to contain the batsmen and not give away easy runs and am happy playing my part,” the spinner said.

Asking a leg spinner to not toss the ball up is like asking Sachin Tendulkar to not play a straight drive or asking Virat Kohli to not flick the ball on to the on side. But Karn, with his accurate bowling and different variations, has earned a name for himself within the IPL circles by adjusting his bowling style according to the batsmen at the crease.“ I look to turn the ball away from the left handed batsmen while trying to bowl flat and just wide off the off stump to the right-handers during the death overs,” Karn said.