Changing his side for the second year in a row, leg-spinner Karn Sharma has decided to turn up for Andhra Pradesh in the upcoming season of Ranji Trophy.
Karn is the only professional recruit this season for Andhra Pradesh. “This season, Sharma will be playing for Andhra Pradesh. He is the only professional recruit so far,” Ch Arun Kumar, the Andhra Cricket Association Secretary, was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
The Uttar Pradesh born leggie represented Vidarbha last year, taking transfer from Railways. However, stiff competition from other spinners meant Karn could only play four games, picking up 14 wickets at an average of 33.14 and economy rate of 3.24. His number with the bat weren’t too bat either. He scored 106 runs at an average of 26.50 with a top-score of 52.
“Unfortunately, he could not get much game last season due to so much competition, so he had asked for a release and we wish him all the luck for future assignments,” Prashant Vaidya, Vidarbha Cricket Association’s vice-president said.
Vidarbha were the eventual winners, registering their maiden Ranji triumph under the captaincy of Faiz Fasal.
Karn’s IPL career too has been much-like his First-class stint. He has represented three different franchises – Sunrisers Hyderabad (2016), Mumbai Indians (2017) and Chennai Super Kings (2018) in three seasons, ending up winning the IPL for each of them.