Karthik Meiyappan

Karthik Palaniappan Meiyappan, a wrist spinner by craft, is an upcoming hotshot for the United Arab Emirates. He was part of his country’s U-19 team that took part in the Junior World Cup in 2020. 

Born in India’s Chennai, Meiyappan is a canny and crafty operator with the ball in hand. The spinner has risen through the ranks and has been impressive since his age-group days. His stock ball is his leg break variation - but his googly delivery is also equally brilliant. 

The leggie was part of UAE’s team during the Under-19 World Cup of 2020, where he bagged four wickets in five games at 55.25 apiece. However, he was an international cricketer, even before playing the global event. 

The Chennai-born lad made his ODI debut against UAE in December 2019 - but nerves got better off him then. He bounced back in his second ODI game where he scalped two Scottish wickets, before scalping four wickets against Namibia in his third match. 

Meiyappan’s graph has been going upwards, since his debut, and has shown all the ingredients to be his country’s future. In 2020, Emirate Cricket Board offered the spinner a part-time contract to celebrate his performance at international and domestic tournaments. 

Apart from all that, the UAE international was part of Royal Challengers Bangalore as a net bowler during IPL 2020 and would be serving another stint during the second leg of IPL 2021. The IPL experience would be a huge learning curve for Meiyappan, as he would share nets with the best players in the business. 

(As of September 2021)