There has been so much talk about KC Cariappa, the cost at which he was roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders and the mystery in his craft. When the time finally came for the world to see who Cariappa actually was, how he bowled and whether he would make a statement in his first IPL outing being an unknown commodity, it didn’t quite live up to the hype. Cariappa got all of just two overs on his IPL debut and he was up against two of the most destructive batsmen in international cricket - Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers.

To be fair to the spinner from Karnataka, he is just a 20-year old who is yet to make his first-class debut and still taking steady steps in learning his art. He agreed that this was not the ideal start to the IPL that he expected. “It is not a great start to my IPL career.

I panicked and I was under pressure,” a visibly dejected Cariappa told iplt20.com after his side’s loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore. “It was a huge challenge for me to walk up and bowl my first over to Chris Gayle.

I was just a little nervous.”Cariappa’s first ball was played cautiously by Gayle, but then he just went ballistic and hit him for a six and a boundary. “I bowled the first one a bit flat, but after that I gave the ball a lot of flight.

That is probably why I got hit like that. Probably I shouldn’t have given Gayle so much of flight. I should have bowled at a more accurate line.

I will try to do things better in the games to follow.”The moment his first over proved to be expensive, KKR captain Gautam Gambhir got him off the attack. Cariappa later returned to bowl the eleventh over only for some more harsh treatment from AB de Villiers.

The RCB batsman garnered 15 runs off him but also became Cariappa’s first IPL victim, something that the bowler believes he will cherish for a long time. “I was thinking how to bowl to AB. In the strategic time-out I was just told to be calm and not to worry about anything.

I got hit for more runs in my over by him, but I sensed that AB (de Villiers) would give me the charge in my final delivery. That is the reason I pitched it flatter. Rightly so, he gave me the charge and the ball beat him and he got stumped.

Bowling to him was a huge challenge for me and picking up his wicket is a huge moment for me.” The game is done and dusted. Cariappa was visibly unhappy with his performance but was given a silent pat by the team management after the game.

KKR have immense trust in the youngster. Captain Gautam Gambhir in his pre-match press conference has made it clear that they want to unearth a raw talent like Cariappa and hoped for him to learn from the likes of Sunil Narine. “It is great to have Narine in the side and take tips from him, Cariappa says.

“His variations in pace and the grip of the ball is something that I am trying to grasp from him. This may not be an ideal start, but I am confident I will learn from this and do well in the rest of the games.”  .

Source: http://www.iplt20.com/news/2015/features/5911/not-panicking-is-key-to-winning-rahane