Rajasthan Royals Trade All-Rounder Krishnappa Gowtham To Kings XI Punjab

Rajasthan Royals have traded their all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham to Kings XI Punjab, it was announced on Wednesday. Gowtham had joined the franchise in IPL 2018 auction at a high price of Rs 6.2 Crores. In total, Gowtham played 22 matches for Rajasthan in which he scored 144 runs and scalped 12 wickets.

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He was a regular in the playing XI in the previous season but with Shreyas Gopal taking the charge in IPL 2019, Gowtham just got seven chances. At KXIP, he will join his statemates KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Jagadeesha Suchith, who moved to the franchise from Delhi Capitals.

Gowtham has also earlier been part of Mumbai Indians as well but didn’t get a chance for the four-time champions. A regular in the India A squad, Gowtham has played 53 T20s in which he has scored 513 runs and has scalped 35 wickets.

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Given his big-hitting abilities in death overs, the decision does come as a surprise but the presence of Ashton Turner and Shreyas would have seen Gowtham sit out for major part of the season.

Earlier in the evening,  Rajasthan Royals had added Ankit Rajpoot to their squad for the next season. The former Kings XI Punjab pacer had been bought by the franchise for Rs 3 Crore.

Apart from that, Delhi Capitals also announced the trading of Trent Boult, who has moved to Mumbai Indians. The Kiwi pacer did not get regular chances in IPL 2019 due to the presence of senior Ishant Sharma, who led the pace attack.

Other franchises have to announce the list of released and traded players by November 14, which is the last date to do so.

The auction for the next season of the tournament will take place in Kolkata on December 19. It will be a one-day event and the franchises will be buying only few players. A mega-auction is set to take place next year.