{"id":198130,"date":"2026-07-28T08:13:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=198130"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:13:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:43:18","slug":"from-swiggy-delivery-boy-to-kcl-star-here-is-how-krishna-devan-became-a-kerala-sensation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=198130","title":{"rendered":"From Swiggy delivery boy to KCL star \u2014 Here is how Krishna Devan became a Kerala sensation"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Along the winding road leading to the KCA cricket stadium in Mangalapuram, his face stares at you from the numerous flex boards.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old R.J. Krishna Devan is the toast of his hometown after he became the second-most expensive player (Rs. 11.20 lakh) at the recent Kerala Cricket League (KCL) auction.<\/p>\n

Though he lives just a stone\u2019s throw away from\u00a0the KCA stadium, cricket entered\u00a0Krishna Devan\u2019s life at a relatively late age of 21. He\u00a0was a self taught javelin thrower and Kerala University champion before a shoulder injury brought a premature end to his athletics career. \u201cI tried my luck with\u00a0cricket after completing my B. Sc in Mathematics. I used to play tennis-ball cricket, so\u00a0transitioning\u00a0to the original cricket ball was easy for me,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

But Krishna Devan faced\u00a0fierce opposition from his\u00a0family and he was forced to take up part-time jobs to pursue cricket. However, when he broke two bats and lost significant money in stock trading, Krishna Devan found himself at a crossroads.<\/p>\n

In a desperate midnight impulse, he packed his bags, rode his bike to Bengaluru and spent the next eight months working as a Swiggy<\/i> food delivery executive. \u201cI needed money, cricket was the last thing on my mind when I arrived in Bengaluru,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet he couldn\u2019t stay away from the sport for long. He made friends with local club cricketers and played in tournaments during his spare time. Sagar, the club patron, who came to know of Krishna Devan\u2019s struggles gifted him a full kit and five bats and urged him to return home and play.<\/p>\n

Krishna Devan joined the Kids Cricket Club in Thiruvananthapuram and rapidly earned a reputation as a terrifying\u00a0power hitter. Despite a snub in the inaugural KCL season, Krishna Devan forced his way into the spotlight during the 2025 President\u2019s Cup semifinal, blasting four sixes in the final over to steal an impossible win for KCA Lions.<\/p>\n

Calicut Globstars snapped him up for a modest Rs. 75,000 in the second season. Krishna Devan didn\u2019t get many opportunities but his unbeaten match-winning 11-ball 49 against Aries Kollam Sailors underlined his immense potential. A thumb injury, which required surgery, sidelined him for five months this\u00a0year. But he returned in\u00a0style, playing match winning knocks for Thiruvananthapuram in the NSK Trophy T20 tournament in June. Just days later, KCL auction came as a life changing milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was unbelievable. I was watching the auction on TV and felt happy when my family finally acknowledged me. Now I will have to live up to the expectations and do well in the upcoming KCL,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Published on Jul 28, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Along the winding road leading to the KCA cricket stadium in Mangalapuram, his face stares at you from the numerous flex boards. The 27-year-old R.J. Krishna Devan is the toast of his hometown after he became the second-most expensive player (Rs. 11.20 lakh) at the recent Kerala Cricket League (KCL) auction. Though he lives just … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-198130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/krishdevan.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":195660,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=195660","url_meta":{"origin":198130,"position":0},"title":"Kerala Cricket League 2026 \u2014 Sibin Girish completes spectacular rise from obscurity\u00a0","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"July 22, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"From being omitted from the auction list in the inaugural edition of Kerala Cricket League (KCL) to being the most expensive player in the third edition, it has been a fairytale journey for Sibin Girish. 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