Former CSK bids goodbye to international cricket after being unsold in IPL 2026 auction

On Monday (December 22), a former CSK bid, who once created an IPL auction history, announced retirement from competitive cricket. 

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Krishnappa Gowtham retires from competitive cricket

The 37-year-old bowling all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham announced his retirement from professional cricket. He was the off-spinner and right-handed batter. He played one ODI for India during the 2021 Colombo ODI against Sri Lanka in July, where he scored two runs and got one wicket. 

Earlier in January 2021, he was one of the five net bowlers for the Indian Test squad that faced England at home. 

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Krishnappa Gowtham was previously most expensive uncapped player in IPL history

During the IPL 2021 auction, CSK bought him for INR 9.25 crores, which made him the most expensive uncapped player in the history of IPL at that time. However, unfortunately, he never served for CSK, as he was released from the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. 

Gowtham played for three IPL franchises, as he served Rajasthan Royals (2018-2019), Punjab Kings (2020), and Lucknow Super Giants (2022-2024). In his small IPL career, the all-rounder recorded 21 wickets and 247 runs in 36 games. With the bat, his IPL strike rate was 166.89, while the highest score in his IPL career was 33 not out. 

In domestic cricket, Gowtham served for Karnataka. In his professional career, he played 59 first-class matches, 68 List A games, and 92 T20s. While he took 394 wickets, he also recorded 2783 runs in overall formats, including one first-class century, five first-class half-centuries, one List A half-century, and two T20 half-centuries. Gowtham last served for Karnataka in late 2023.