Karn Sharma Watch thread

[Forever Indian]

Very impressive leg spinner - I hope he plays in the WC team. He can also be useful in the Aus tests, defenitely better than the other two spinner Ashwin and Jaddu. People think that he bowls fast, but if you watch carefully it is only his arm speed which is quick but he actually flights the ball with that arm speed. It is a wierd action in that regard. His average bowling speed is 85 Ks which is much slower than Jaddu and on par with Ashwin. I feel that because of his quick arm speed with flight he is difficult to pick for batsmen and that's why he ends up becoming economical at the same time takes wickets. As an example see this 4 wicket haul here, it clearly shows that his arm speed is fast but he still flights the ball and gets the outside half of the bat. His speeds on the wicket taking deliveries are on average 85 Ks only which is very decent for a spinner. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvQV7hJwMoc]Fiery bowling from Karn Sharma gets 4 wickets (IPL 2014: KKR vs SRH - 54th Match) - YouTube[/ame] Post your thoughts.

[Tarak9999]

Want him in d 11 in wc ahead of ash n jadeja

[Cricket_Hacker]

he should strictly be a limited overs prospect.However,legends like Dravid and Ganguly are backing him so there must be some test-quality potential that i can't see

[rkt.india]

he should strictly be a limited overs prospect.However' date='legends like Dravid and Ganguly are backing him so there must be some test-quality potential that i can't see[/quote'] Dont know why you restrict a leg spinner to just LOIs. You can do it with left arm spinners. Leg spinners are attacking option though they often are not consistent but he is consistent which is his plus point. Just because he is accurate doesn't make him LOI only spinner. I would play him ahead of Jadeja and Ashwin in tests in Aus who both are defensive options and will likely fail.

[Lord]

Dont know why you restrict a leg spinner to just LOIs. You can do it with left arm spinners. Leg spinners are attacking option though they often are not consistent but he is consistent which is his plus point. Just because he is accurate doesn't make him LOI only spinner. I would play him ahead of Jadeja and Ashwin in tests in Aus who both are defensive options and will likely fail.

Has he done well in longer format in domestic.His record is decent at best. In A tour,Mishra played Tests while he played OD games.Not sure what changed now.Mishra should have been there imo

[rkt.india]

Has he done well in longer format in domestic.His record is decent at best. In A tour,Mishra played Tests while he played OD games.Not sure what changed now.Mishra should have been there imo

In Indian domestic, most spinners will have only decent record because players play spin well. Other than that, he first started out as a batsman who could bowl. Now he is a spinner who can bat and has improved a lot. It is better to try someone else than Jadeja or Ashwin. If they play 4 bowlers, I will include him as a spinner as a leg spinner is always an attacking option.

[Lord]

In Indian domestic' date=' most spinners will have only decent record because players play spin well. Other than that, he first started out as a batsman who could bowl. Now he is a spinner who can bat and has improved a lot. It is better to try someone else than Jadeja or Ashwin. If they play 4 bowlers, I will include him as a spinner as a leg spinner is always an attacking option.[/quote'] I agree with playing a leggie.But don't you think Mishra was better option since he turns it more and has more variations? I doubt they'll play 4 bowlers.I'd like 4 pacers and Ashwin for his batting and support bowling

[rkt.india]

I agree with playing a leggie.But don't you think Mishra was better option since he turns it more and has more variations? I doubt they'll play 4 bowlers.I'd like 4 pacers and Ashwin for his batting and support bowling

No. Mishra is too slow in the air and not that consistent. Dont think he is fit enough to last a test. A leg spinner needs to put as much an effort as a fast bowler.

[Crookbond]

OP - Karn Sharma bowls a flatter trajectory is what people say, not fast. His arm speeds makes it difficult for people to track his variations.

[Forever Indian]

'I am prepared' - Karn Sharma On November 3, the day before the Indian selectors were originally scheduled to pick the Indian squad for Test series in Australia, former India captain Rahul Dravid picked his own 16 while speaking to ESPNcricinfo. Saying it was time for selectors to be brave, Dravid raised a few eyebrows by favouring Railways legspinner Karn Sharma over Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner. Later that evening, when told Dravid preferred him as a spin partner to R Ashwin, Karn was a little tongue-tied. At the time Karn was training with the Railways squad, which was preparing for the central zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one-day tournament. "I am a little bit nervous," he confessed. With the selection meeting scheduled for the following day, Karn admitted he might find it hard to sleep. That selection meeting was postponed by the BCCI. A week later, though, the selectors backed Dravid's decision by picking Karn for the four-Test series starting from December 4. Now, Karn was relaxed. Lounging in the spacious dressing room at Jamtha in Nagpur after his 3 for 47 against Madhya Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare tournament, he read of his selection while browsing the internet. "I am very happy that I have got an opportunity to play in Tests for India," Karn told ESPNcricinfo. "Let us see if I get a chance or not, but I am prepared. I will try my level best to prove myself." Dravid had said earlier that he preferred that the selectors to go with Karn since wrist spinners "had a greater chance" to succeed in Australia if they bowled straight, had a good googly and were able to extract bounce. He cited the examples of Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill as past match-winners. "I just [want] someone who is little bit quicker through the air, who has a good googly and could be someone who could surprise the Australians," Dravid said. And Warne it was, whom Karn wanted to imitate when he started to bowl legbreaks. "I tried to develop my action based on Warne but that did not happen. Something else came out - Karn Sharma's own action," Karns says with a laugh. Ask Karn about his strengths and he tells you: bowl straight, mix in a few variations, back your basics. It is a remarkable progression for Karn who hit headlines at the IPL auction this February when Sunrisers Hyderabad paid $625,000 (Rs 3.5 crore) for him, making him the richest uncapped Indian domestic player. Karn received his maiden international call-up when he was picked for the limited-overs segment of the England tour earlier this year, where he made his debut in the one-off Twenty20 in Birmingham. So far this year Karn's name has featured consistently in all selection meetings, including for the last two ODI series India have played against West Indies and Sri Lanka. It is understood that selectors have put faith in Karn only because they lost faith in fellow legspinners Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla, who failed to cement a spot in the team after Kumble's retirement. Still, Karn is not widely known. Having made his debut for Railways in 2007, Karn failed to find a regular spot in the team with the senior pair of Murali Kartik and Kulamani Parida being the frontline spinners. But, in the last two years, Karn has started to settle in as Railways' main spinner. "For the last few years I have started bowling longer spells and that has helped me get into the wickets," he says. Indeed, he has bowled a total of 289 overs in 11 first-class matches over the last two domestic seasons while picking up more than half of his 66 wickets in that period, including the two five-fors he has till date. Kartik, who lead Railways in his farewell season last year, describes how Karn stands out from the rest. "He is very different. He is not the conventional legspinner who tosses the ball up. He is quick through the air and gives the ball a rip," Kartik says, adding that he was not surprised that Karn was on the selectors' radar. "The coming together of Karn Sharma has been in the last two years. He is an allrounder. He can really bat well and tonk the ball. He fields well despite looking chubby. He is a good bowler and he is a team player. He is a bankable option. He has been a work in progress and he still is a work in progress." According to Kartik, the speed at which Karn delivers the ball makes it harder for the batsmen. "He gets the ball to spin at high speeds which is really good. And because of his quicker arms speed and quick action, it is not easy for batsmen to pick him." Karn's googly is not sharp, but Kartik reckons it is "deceptive", making it a wicket-taking ball. Karn, Kartik says, was his go-to bowler. "He got eight in an innings against Rajasthan on a wicket where nothing was happening for anyone else. Then in a must-win game against Services, in fading light, on a green pitch, he got five." The "turning point", Karn says, came two years ago in that match-winning performance against Rajasthan. The Karnail Singh Stadium, Railways home ground, was disqualified due to the poor pitch offered the previous season, and Railways were forced to play Rajasthan in Bhubaneswar. Anureet Singh took advantage of a green pitch by grabbing a five-for forcing Rajasthan to follow-on. Karn finished the job by grabbing a career-best 8 for 97 in the second innings. "We were going for an outright victory in order to increase our chances to make the knockouts," he says. "It was the turning point of my career. From that I got a lot of confidence. It also helped me start bowling more and more." Karn is not capable with just the ball. He can stand his ground with the bat, too. During the second innings of the Duleep Trophy semi-final last month, Central Zone, despite taking a sizeable first-innings lead, were struggling at 95 for 6 against North Zone on the penultimate day. Karn struck a rapid 69 to take the game away from a star-studded North and ensure his team progressed, and they eventually won the tournament. Kartik believes despite such performances, though, Karn's sudden elevation is only because of his consistent performance for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL over the last two years. "It is because in the IPL and Champions League T20, in the company of Amit Mishra, he has done well," Kartik says. Karn does acknowledge the IPL is behind his growth. In his maiden IPL season in 2013, Karn bowled a maiden over to Dwayne Bravo against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk. "That was the 16th over of the Chennai innings. That is when I realised I was growing into one of the main bowlers for Sunrisers," he says. In IPL 2014, he was thrown the ball frequently during the Powerplay by the Sunrisers captains. He accounted for Chris Gayle in both matches against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament, which he says is another high point of his career. "In the first years I was bowling well but I would not bowl in the Powerplay. But this IPL, Sunrisers showed confidence in me. That is a big thing to me because along with Amit bhai I was getting a chance to bowl in Powerplay." Karn says the money isn't a big draw for him; he says he has handed over his IPL money to his parents, and his only indulgence so far has been to buy a house in his hometown, Meerut. "My main motivation is to perform. If I perform money will come automatically. So my aim is to play and make my team win. It is a big thing for legends like Rahul bhai to have [put forward] my name. My only aim is to prove myself if I get a chance." Karn made his debut under Sanjay Bangar, former Railways captain and India opener. Bangar is currently India's assistant coach and has been a big supporter of Karn. Karn cannot forget one thing in particular Bangar that always reminded him about, something he will keep in mind if he takes the ball for India in Australia. "He always said do not think too much. Think only when you enter the ground. Once you enter the ground, you never know what you will achieve." Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2014-15/content/story/798069.html

[tweaker]

Selectors have taken a huge gamble by picking him over Mishra.Mishra had got multiple chances,but he was not able to cement his place in the side.Kohli should select him in the 1st test,because Dhoni will never select him over Jadeja

[Forever Indian]

Selectors have taken a huge gamble by picking him over Mishra.Mishra had got multiple chances' date='but he was not able to cement his place in the side.Kohli should select him in the 1st test,because Dhoni will never select him over Jadeja[/quote'] We don't have much options in the leg spin department and Karn has improved leaps and bounds in last two years. Mishra was never taking wickets even in indian conditions in tests, he averages over 43 and has strike rate over 81. He has been good in ODIs but yet to be tested overseas (other than his 18 wickets in Zim). We obviously know about Chaiwala. He is the Afridi of Indian bowling, can be great in one off games but will be crap in the rest.

[tweaker]

Karn should seize this oppurtunity & make the no 8 position his own

[express bowling]

Karn has bowled 4 overs till now. Turned the leg spinner only with one ball. No special zip from the pitch yet. Let's see how he does from now on.

[f.b.m]

He hasn't bowled a single bad ball so far which is nice to see from a leggie. They've had to earn or fluke their runs against him.

[Lord]

Good enough for LOIs Doesnt turn it big for Tests though :hmmm:

[Old guy]

For a moment I hought bawla was bowling

[zep1706]

Why is he Karn and not Karan? :hmmm:

[express bowling]

So far, he looks like a bowler who looks to contain runs rather than take wickets.

[fineleg]

How did KS do in 4-day format first class games? Is he more odi types or attacking bowler in long format?