Meet the winner of three consecutive IPLs, the cricketer with a better fortune than MS Dhoni

When Karn Sharma spun a loopy leg-spinner past a well settled Kane Williamson, he looked upwards for long enough before his prayers were interrupted by his overjoyed teammates, who were ecstatic to see the back of the opposition captain in a crucial juncture of the IPL final.

When Karn Sharma spun a loopy leg-spinner past a well settled Kane Williamson, he looked upwards for long enough before his prayers were interrupted by his overjoyed teammates, who were ecstatic to see the back of the opposition captain in a crucial juncture of the IPL final.

CSK had pocketed half the IPL trophy with that wicket. Sunrisers’ total of 169 may not show the scars of that wicket entirely but the total could have been a lot more, perhaps enough to even a throw a challenge to a rampaging Shane Watson.  

You sure do require a lot of skill to make a fool out of a player of the caliber of Williamson, particularly when the kind of form he was in, but it takes a lot more than just skill to complete a hat-trick of IPL wins, albeit playing for different franchises.  

No, the midas touch does not belong to Dhoni alone. The art of winning IPL trophies year after year, despite changing franchises, belongs to Karn Sharma, the man who got deceived Williamson with a beauty.

It would be safe to say that Karn Sharma takes the IPL Trophy with him wherever he goes. He did with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, was an active member of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2017 and this time left his mark with Chennai Super Kings.

Going by the game of fortune, Sharma fares even better than Dhoni or Rohit Sharma in the IPL. Both Rohit and Dhoni have won three IPLs apiece but none could do it back to back like Sharma.

While it  is highly debatable whether Dhoni was aware about the Karn Sharma luck factor but one cannot deny the fact that the inclusion of the leggie in the final in place of Harbhajan was a tad surprising to say the least.

Harbhajan himself backed his exclusion though. “Dhoni was right that he needed someone who would take the ball away from the batsman. We have seen wrist spinners bowling more and more overs in the IPL compared to finger spinners. But I hope it would change next year. Well done to Karn and glad to be on the winning side,” Harbhajan said, defending Dhoni.

The 30-year-old leg spinner’s performance in the IPL was nothing extraordinary. He played six matches this season, picking up 4 wickets but CSK would not want to risk the lucky charm by letting him go for the next session.