Krishnappa Gowtham
Krishnappa Gowtham (Image Credit: Twitter)

In an intense bidding war between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was the Chennai Super Kings who swooped in to bag the services of Krishnappa Gowtham for a hefty Rs. 9.4 cr in the IPL 2021 auction on Thursday.

CSK will be the fourth franchise the Karnataka all-rounder is part of, after Mumbai Indians in 2017 – he didn’t play a game for MI – then Rajasthan Royals in 2018 and 2019, followed by trade to Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) for IPL 2020.

Krishnappa Gowtham
Krishnappa Gowtham (Image Credits: Twitter)

After being in picked for just two matches last season – scoring 42 runs at a strike rate of 155 and picking 1 wicket at an economy of 10 – for Punjab, Krishnappa Gowtham was released back in the auction pool where the MS Dhoni-led outfit bagged him for a big amount.

Just need to go out there and express yourself: Krishnappa Gowtham

The 32-year-old says that he isn’t putting much thought into the price tag which will be associated with him throughout the season. Instead, the right-hander will follow the simple mantra, his new skipper, MS Dhoni has always spoken about: go out there and just express yourself.

Gowtham, who idolizes ‘Thala’ Dhoni and wants to emulate the former India skipper’s equanimity, was bought alongside England all-rounder, Moeen Ali to replace the offloaded Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla.

Krishnappa Gowtham, Ms Dhoni
Krishnappa Gowtham, MS Dhoni. Image-Twitter.

“Playing alongside the legends of the game like Raina and Dhoni, I would love to learn how they handle the game. Not too worried because of the price tag because at a given, we have to go out and perform. Having that badge on your head will put unwanted pressure. You just need to go out there and express yourself is what I look up to and do that,” Krishnappa Gowtham said in a video uploaded by the franchise.

“I am literally like shivering and have no words to explain. It has not gotten into my system yet. It is a dream come true. Always idolize Mahi (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) bhai. The way he is as a human and the way he plays the game and finishes the games off. So yeah, this was something I always envied about him,” the all-rounder added.

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