CHENNAI: As the bid money kept rising on the TV screen he was watching, so did Krishnappa Gowtham's heart rate. Was this actually happening? Was I dreaming? Why was there a bidding war for me?
These were some of the questions Gowtham was trying to process that day in Ahmedabad during the IPL auctions in 2021. In the end, the hard-hitting bowling all-rounder was signed by Chennai Super Kings for `9.25 cr. The Karnataka cricketer had, over the course of 10 minutes become a millionaire many times over. He had also become the most expensive uncapped cricketer in the history of the league.
Gowtham, a net bowler during the Covid-hit England series in India, remembers following the auction in Ahmedabad. When the auction process had started, he wasn't even sure of getting a gig, let alone one that enabled him to tick something off his bucket list. Play under MS Dhoni.
"I was thoroughly surprised that quite a few teams went for me," he tells this daily. "I had spent a couple of years with Royals and Punjab, where I got minimal opportunities. When you get minimum opportunities, you start thinking. 'Will I be part of any team?' There were jitters and self doubts." When he saw his name on the screen and the bid amount rising exponentially, 'I started to visibly shake'.
Those self doubts evaporated as "I got to play under Mahi bhai. I was fortunate to live the dream, being a part of CSK. It helped me a lot. Not only from a cricketing aspect but it helped me grow as a person."
The one regret he has from the time is not featuring for Chennai during their title-winning season. "The message given to me was very clear," the 37-year-old, who retired from all forms of the game late last year, says. "If you start, you will play all games." But because of the nature of the season — it was held in two parts, first in India before it was held in UAE — the management stuck to their template. With Ravindra Jadeja also playing in that spot as Indian spinning all-rounder, they may have left out one of their priciest auction buys of all time. "We were winning throughout so maybe they felt there was no need to change," he reflects. "A sportsperson's desire is always to play more and try to do more. But whatever opportunities I got, I enjoyed it a lot."
He was extremely highly rated because not a lot of Indian spinners could give it a good whack in the end overs coupled with his ability to keep it tight with the ball. That's why there was a lot of demand for his services. Previously, Royals had purchased him for `6.2 cr as well. Months after that auction, he helped the franchise to a thrilling win over a Mumbai Indians team featuring the likes of Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.
At the end, he clattered a 11-ball 33 to give the side a last over win after opening the bowling in the first innings. Those were skills CSK valued very highly but released him (LSG signed him for `90 lakh in 2022) without giving him a chance. While he is the owner of a very quirky record — featuring for two IPL teams who won (Mumbai in 2017 as well) without playing a single game — he knows the high watermark of his career came when he won an India cap in 2021. "Rahul sir (coach Rahul Dravid) kept talking to me around that time. I had played in many A teams. Again opportunities were minimal. When I won that cap, a lot of flashbacks came flooding back."
For the time being, he is removed from the game but he sees himself as a coach in the near future. "I want to make sure people don't make the same mistakes I did," he says. He also remembers one of the things a Karnataka selector had told him when he was 25. "You can hang your boots because you will never play for Karnataka again," he remembers.
He went on to play for his state for over a decade post that incident. It's why, above all else, he wants to be remembered for 'my mental toughness'.
