Karnataka all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham has retired from professional cricket, bringing down the curtain on a domestic career that stretched nearly 15 years and made him one of the state’s most reliable all-rounders.
The 37-year-old announced his decision at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru at the Karnataka State Cricket Association farewell, saying he did not want to occupy a place that could belong to a young cricketer.
A career built on wickets, runs and nerve
Gowtham signed off with 394 wickets and 2,783 runs for Karnataka across formats, a summary of his value in India’s domestic grind. In first-class cricket, he played 59 matches, taking 224 wickets at 27.25, including 14 five-wicket hauls and two match ten-fers, while also scoring 1,418 runs with a highest score of 149.
In List A cricket, he featured in 68 matches, collecting 96 wickets and scoring 630 runs. His T20 record for Karnataka read 92 matches, 74 wickets and 734 runs, a reminder that he was as useful with late-inning power as he was with tight overs in the middle phase.
His IPL journey underlines that reputation. At the 2021 auction, Chennai Super Kings paid INR 9.25 crores for him, briefly making the most expensive uncapped India buy. But Gowtham’s career also carried hard turns: he was dropped after the 2022-23 Ranji season despite finishing joint top wicket-taker with 31 scalps, an episode he referenced while calling his path eventful and built on comebacks.
The highlights, though, were unmistakably his. In the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu in Dindigul in 2019, he produced a match-winning all-rounder effort of 14 wickets and 73 runs, turning the game with spin and then adding crucial lower-order resistance.
In white-ball cricket, he was part of Karnataka’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumph in 2019-20 and was remembered for defending 13 runs in the final over of the title match against Tamil Nadu, a spell that became shorthand for nerve under pressure.
K Gowtham also enjoyed a cult-hero turn in Karnataka Premier League with Bellary Tuskers in 2019, when he smashed 134 not out of 56 balls and then returned figures of 8 for 15 in the same game.
He indicated he would like to remain involved with Karnataka cricket in the future, offering to contribute in any role the association deems fit, and stressed he had no desire to extend his playing days by moving to another state.
