‘We were looking at him as Ashwin’s backup’: Former selector explains why Krishnappa Gowtham is yet to make India debut

Singh praised Gowtham’s abilities, adding that the latter was in the race of getting a chance in the limited-overs formats.

All-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham hogged the limelight on Thursday as he became the most-expensive uncapped Indian cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for a whopping price of ₹ ₹9.25 crore at the players' auction held in Chennai.

All-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham (L), former Indian captain MS Dhoni (R)(Twitter)

Despite 1045 runs and 166 wickets in 42 first-class games, the Karnataka all-rounder is yet to make his international debut. Meanwhile, former Indian selector Sarandeep Singh revealed that Gowtham was once considered as the back-up option for Ravichandran Ashwin during his tenure.

In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Singh praised Gowtham’s on-field abilities, adding that the latter was in the race of getting a chance in the limited-overs formats.

“If you see his domestic record, he has been performing all the time. He has been picked for India A for the last 2-3 years and has been doing consistently well. In fact, in case Ravichandran Ashwin was to get injured or was unfit, we were looking at K Gowtham as back-up spinner. He was in our minds for ODIs and T20Is as well,” Sarandeep Singh told Sportskeeda.

“K Gowtham also did very well for Rajasthan Royals earlier. I don’t know why they let him go. He can bat also and bowl also. He was actually pretty good for them. I don’t understand why some franchises release decent players. Last season, he was injured so he couldn’t play many games for Punjab. He deserves this chance,” said Singh.