RR Spinner Who Played Only 4 Games In IPL 2025 Wreaks Havoc In Duleep Trophy Final

After missing both the semi-final and quarter-final clashes of the 2025 Duleep Trophy, Madhya Pradesh spinner Kumar Kartikeya made his first appearance of the 2025 Duleep Trophy today in Bengaluru, directly in the final against South Zone, representing Central Zone.

And it did not take long for the left-arm bowler to impress as in a stellar spell, he took 4/53 to stun South Zone, who were asked to bat. Kartikeya and fellow Madhya Pradesh off-spinner Saransh Jain accounted for 9 of the 10 wickets to fall as Central Zone bundled South Zone out for just 149 inside two sessions. 

For offie Saransh, it was his second consecutive five-fer of this Duleep Trophy, but, on the day, it was Kartikeya who dented South Zone up-front, removing three of South Zone’s top five batters. Kartikeya first broke the deadlock by removing Mohit Kale, and then, soon after, he got the prized scalp of Karnataka’s Smaran Ravichandran. 

After Tanmay Agarwal’s run-out reduced South Zone to 47/3, Kartikeya left the side in absolute tatters as he dismissed skipper Mohammed Azharuddeen to strike for a third time and reduce South Zone to 57/4. It was the Saransh show after this as the off-spinner took five of the remaining six wickets to bowl South Zone out for 149. 

Still only 27, Kartikeya is known for his stints in the Indian Premier League, with Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, but the left-armer has an impressive first-class record, having taken 172 wickets at an average just over 21. Two seasons ago, he was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy, taking 41 wickets at an average of 19.51. 

In IPL 2025, Kartikeya played four games for RR, taking 2 wickets at an economy of 9.75.