Karun, Kamath thrilled to be part of the pack

 Karnataka may not have had a fruitful domestic season, failing to retain any of the three titles that they had held for the last two years but that had little negative impact on the IPL prospects of the players from the State.

Not surprisingly, Karun Nair hit the jackpot by fetching Rs 4 crore from Delhi Daredevils but there were a couple of surprises in the form of Kishore Kamath and Praveen Dubey who were picked by Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore respectively.

Kamath, a leg-spinner from Hubli went for a cool Rs 1.4 crore to Mumbai after pipping Royal Challengers. “It feels very good to be a part of IPL,” said Kamath. “I’m overwhelmed by the response. Initially I didn’t know I would come up for the auction in the accelerated bidding. So, once the main auction was over I thought I had missed the bus,” he remarked.

Kamath had impressed the Mumbai scouts during the trials. “I was called up for the Mumbai Indians trials in December last year. During the three-day trials John Wright and Robin Singh were among the coaches who watched me,” added Kamath who is yet to play first-class cricket.

Dubey was also bought during accelerated auction (for recalled players) for Rs 35 lakh (base price Rs 10 lakh) and the leg-break bowler, who became familiar through KPL, was happy to play for his home team.

"It's a great feeling,” he noted. “Somewhere in the back of my mind I had a feeling that I could make it this time. I had attended the two-day Royal Challengers Bangalore’s trials earlier this month and I had interacted with coach Daniel Vettori. He didn't give me any specific tips as such but he said that I could do well if I worked hard. I'm happy to be able to work with him again. Rs 35 lakh is a lot of money but cricket is my only focus now," he remarked.

Nair was delighted with the response he got but more importantly he was happy to work again with Rahul Dravid who will be mentoring Daredevils this season.

“More than the money, I am just really happy that I am going to be playing under Rahul Dravid who has helped me a lot when I was in Rajasthan Royals and in the India ‘A’ team,” he said.

Asked if he is looking at IPL to use it as a launch pad to make India debut, Nair said: “See, I still have a long way to go and I am going to focus on the process. I am only going to work towards a good domestic season. I hope I get picked for the India Test side but that’s something I strive for. It’s not something that will happen overnight. Doing well in the auction does help your chances.”

Other Karnataka players that were picked in the auction included Stuart Binny (RCB, Rs 2 crore), Shivil Kaushik (Gujarat Lions, Rs 10 lakh), KC Cariappa (Kings XI Punjab, Rs 80 lakh) and A Mithun (Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rs 30 lakh).