Harry Gurney arrives in Kolkata for IPL stint; says ‘huge career highlight’

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just days away and the members of the various squads are already arriving in their respective camps for the mega event. The first game will be played between reigning champions Chennai Super Kings and three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on March 23, the opening day. The schedule of the tournament till May 5 has been announced so far since the IPL this year will take place parallel to the Lok Sabha elections.

Harry Gurney, a left-arm fast-medium bowler from England, also arrived in India on Tuesday to join his side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Nottinghamshire cricketer was spotted outside Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata on Tuesday and Gurney himself shared the photo on Twitter expressing his excitement ahead of playing his maiden IPL. He called it a “huge career highlight”.

A veteran of 124 T20s (145 wickets), the 32-year-old Gurney got to hear about the news of him getting picked by the KKR at the auction held last December from his wife. Gurney played 10 ODIs and two T20Is for England – all in 2014 – and made the international headlines again when bought by the Kolkata-based franchise. KKR have won the IPL title twice (2012 and 2014) and made some key picks this year to give a more complete touch to their squad.

Gurney learnt the news from his wife

Owner of over 300 wickets in first-class cricket, Gurney came to learn about the good news on the occasion of his marriage anniversary and it added to the special joy. It was his wife who had broken the news to him on the day by saying: “You’ve been sold!”

For Gurney, the tough phase starts now. With KKR already having lost some young Indian pacers and finding replacements for them, he could feature in their plans to begin with and the Englishman will have to grab the opportunity with both hands to survive the distance in the long tournament.

KKR will launch their campaign this IPL against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a home game on Sunday.