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 a stone’s throw away from the KCA stadium, cricket entered Krishna Devan’s life at a relatively late age of 21. He was a self taught javelin thrower and Kerala University champion before a shoulder injury brought a premature end to his athletics career. “I tried my luck with cricket after completing my B. Sc in Mathematics. I used to play tennis-ball cricket, so transitioning to the original cricket ball was easy for me,” he recalled.
But Krishna Devan faced fierce opposition from his family 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.
In a desperate midnight impulse, he packed his bags, rode his bike to Bengaluru and spent the next eight months working as a Swiggy food delivery executive. “I needed money, cricket was the last thing on my mind when I arrived in Bengaluru,” he said.
Yet he couldn’t 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’s struggles gifted him a full kit and five bats and urged him to return home and play.
Krishna Devan joined the Kids Cricket Club in Thiruvananthapuram and rapidly earned a reputation as a terrifying power hitter. Despite a snub in the inaugural KCL season, Krishna Devan forced his way into the spotlight during the 2025 President’s Cup semifinal, blasting four sixes in the final over to steal an impossible win for KCA Lions.
Calicut Globstars snapped him up for a modest Rs. 75,000 in the second season. Krishna Devan didn’t 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 year. But he returned in style, 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.
“It 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,” he concluded.
Published on Jul 28, 2026
