Krishnappa Gowtham looking forward to make a mark on Sri Lanka tour

The board of Cricket for India (BCCI) finally announced the squad for its limited-overs tour to Sri Lanka starting on July 13. While some expressed the team selected was a well-rounded one, the others felt the squad picked was predominately a spin-dominated one wherein five spinners were included in the 20-member squad announced.

Among the five slow bowlers, Krishnappa Gowtham is one to get a first look in the squad. The Karnataka all-rounder made heads turn by his jaw-dropping acquisition of 9.25 crores from Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League auction earlier in the year. The off-spinner though could not get to play any games due to the presence of Ravindra Jadeja and Moen Ali.

Now the 32-year-old will get a chance to showcase his skills for the white-ball tour and is hoping to learn, evolve and improve his game.

“You live a dream for years and now it has come true and you can’t be happier,” was Gowtham’s first reaction, as reported by Inside sport.

Gowtham has been one of the consistent performers for his state team Karnataka and is their captain Manish Pandey’s go-to bowler during a crunch situation. Over the years, his useful contribution lower down the order with the bat too has helped the team set up huge scores and be a force to reckon in the domestic circuit.

“Starting off in my career I used to mimic Bhajji Paa (Harbhajan Singh) and my teammates would call me Bhajji,” Gowtham recollected during the interaction. So like Bhajji, does he also bowl the doosra?

“No I don’t bowl doosra but I bowl the carrom ball,” Gowthan replied.

Krishnappa Gowtham ready to take valuable lessons from Rahul Dravid

The lanky off-spinner has now got a chance to showcase his skills under the watchful eyes of Raul Dravid who is the head coach for the tour. The 32-year-old knows how hard taskmaster Dravid is and he is keen to get better at the game with him by his side.

“If you have played India A, you are aware about how Rahul sir is as a coach and what he would expect from you as a player. So that gives you a better chance of preparing well for the tour when you have earlier played under him. It will be a great learning experience,” he signed off.