Five things you should know about KKR's Rs 2.4 crore mystery bowler KC Cariappa

Kolkata Knight Riders snapped up young KC Cariappa for Rs 2.4 crore — a massive raise from his base price of Rs 10 lakhs — and a move which trigerred much intrigue. Sunil Narine’s action change could see an adverse effect on his performances and many quarters are suggesting that KKR have replaced one mystery spinner with another. So, who is KC Cariappa? Here are five facts about KKR’s latest find: - KKR Chief Executive Venky Mysore revealed that Cariappa would not in fact come into the team as an unknown commodity: “He was with us during the CLT20 and was bowling in the nets. Our top batsmen, and even a legend like Jacques Kallis, hold him in high regard,” he said at the press conference after the auction. [caption id=“attachment_2103077” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] K C Cariappa’s pic from his Facebook page.[/caption] If Cariappa has managed impressing a fine player like Kallis and was deemed good enough to travel with the KKR team during the CLT20, then he’s probably just a mystery to the rest of us — not the team management. Expect him to be thrown into the mix immediately. - In the recent Karnataka Premier League, Cariappa took 11 wickets for Bijapur Bulls in six matches. And his figures are quite impressive in T20 terms: 0/26, 2/20, 0/23, 4/19, 3/15 and 2/29. He was part of Karnataka’s preliminary squad for the Ranji Trophy. He’s certainly got his foot stuck in the door — and a good IPL season will go a long way to opening it.

- Basically Cariappa is a leg-spinner — and has been compared to Ajantha Mendis and Narine. He denies the comparison though. Cariappa is all over the news now — but it’s hard to even find a single picture of the youngster. The plot thickens. - A Mint article quotes him as saying: “I began by playing tennis ball cricket. Leather ball cricket happened by chance, and once I started bowling with the leather ball, the people around me encouraged me to bowl. My stock delivery is the leg spinner and I bowl the carrom ball and I am working harder on my off-spin.” - Finally, and in case you’re wondering — the KC in his name stands for Konganda Charamanna. Oh, and he’s also richer than most 20-year-olds (Cariappa turns 21 six days into the IPL’s eighth season).