3 min readMar 30, 2026 08:28 PM IST
Kartik Tyagi grew up in Dhanaura, Hapur of Uttar Pradesh, idolising Brett Lee. As the years rolled on, the 25-year-old 6-foot-3 kept getting compared to whoever was the pacer in vogue.
Tyagi once told Red Bull, “I have been watching Brett Lee’s bowling from when I was very young and his run-up style is unique. So like him, I thought it is important to have a really fast run-up. And because of that fast run-up style, people have compared me with Brett Lee and Ishant Sharma. And I feel great to be compared with some of the best fast bowlers in the world.”
A more nuanced and pragmatic mould for the Kolkata Knight Riders pacer who moved east from Rajasthan Royals, seemed to be Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Starc. Not because his action riffed off them naturally, but the deconstructed elements fit.
Now, Dale Steyn is urging the promising pacer to evolve a style of his own, because fast bowling actions can’t be 3D printed into real bowlers, like downloading a software.
Tyagi seems to have changed his action, again.
A young man with pace and good skill, but I feel yet to believe in his own bodies ability, often copying other bowlers actions to find some hidden gem that could work for him.Copying has its advantages, but at some stage you need…
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 29, 2026
Taking to Twitter after MI 6-hitting machines, Ryan Rickleton and Rohit Sharma, took apart KKR pacers, after he came in as Impact Player for Finn Allen, going for 43 off his 4, but pegged back the SKY wicket, Steyn said he sensed promise if the tall pacer would only stop trying to bowl like somebody else.
“Tyagi seems to have changed his action, again. A young man with pace and good skill, but I feel yet to believe in his own bodies (sic: body’s) ability, often copying other bowlers actions to find some hidden gem that could work for him,” Steyn dissected on Twitter.
“Copying has its advantages, but at some stage you need to make an action your own. I hope he finds what he’s looking for soon,” Steyn would say.
Responding to a reply, Steyn would also preached patience, and wickets would come the 150-quick’s way. “He will. He just needs a bit of good old fashioned luck, but most importantly needs to understand there’s a process to picking up wickets and to stop searching for them,” Steyn said. “One can almost feel and certainly see the desperation every time the ball goes in the air or close to a catch. Wickets will come, stay patient with him.”
