Kumar Kartikeya Singh is an orthodox spin (left arm spin) and wrist spin bowler with his home town being Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He plays as a bowling all-rounder for Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket and was picked by Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025 for ₹30 lakh. His most notable performances are 4-wicket haul in Ranji final of 2022 and 5 wickets in his debut season in IPL. The purchase of IPL 2026 has not been confirmed yet.
Kumar Kartikeya: Profile
Kumar Kartikeya is an Indian professional cricketer who was born on 26 December 1997 in Kuwasi, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The 29-year old Hindu right-hand batsman and all-round left-arm spinner is a native of Madhya Pradesh who plays domestic cricket and wears the Rajasthan Royals jersey in IPL 2025. He is a bowling all-rounder who wears jersey number 26 and is able to provide slow left-arm orthodox and left-arm wrist spin with the same level of control and deception, which makes him one of the most unique skilled spinners in Indian domestic cricket at the moment.
Kumar Kartikeya Age, Height & Physical Stats
Kumar Kartikeya Singh is about 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) and with a lean, athletic body weighing around 70 kg – a physique that is best suited to the needs of a high-volume spinner who bowls long, nonstop spells in all three formats. He has a zodiac sign of Capricorn and was born on 26 December 1997 and is 29 years old as of 2026. And with all-striking dark brown eyes And black hair.
Profession and Family Members.
Kumar Kartikeya is born in an ordinary family with value oriented background in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The earliest and longest lasting motivator of his was his parents.
Family Member Name Profession.
Father Shyam Nath Singh Police Officer.
Mother Sunita Singh Homemaker.
Brother Not publicly revealed —
Sister No publicly known sister —
Shyam Nath Singh, his father, played a central part in the emotional life of Kartikeya in his cricket career. In 2022, his father, who served as a police battalion, had a projector installed in the station to watch his IPL debut match against Rajasthan Royals when Kumar made his debut in the IPL. The whole battalion cheered and embraced his father when Kumar dismissed Sanju Samson, his first IPL wicket. It is a scene that ideally embodies the family life as well as his.
Education
The educational background of Kumar Kartikeya is not well recorded in the public sphere and such is the case with cricketers who were more interested in the sport rather than in academic studies at a tender age. When he was 15, he left his family in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh and went to Delhi, where he joined a cricket academy, a move that made cricket the sole focus of his life over formal education. His attendance at school is known to have been completed before he left to Delhi and his six-year stay with coach Sanjay Bhardwaj in Delhi was his practical training in the art of cricket. The fact that he has taught himself the wrist spin, including the fact that he learned the variations on YouTube — indicates a man who is dedicated to his own education in his field of interest.
Relationships & Marital Status
Kumar Kartikeya is a very secretive person as far as his personal life is concerned. As of 2025, no publicly-available data exist regarding his girlfriend, romantic life, or marital status. He has not shared information about a girlfriend on his social media and no reputable sources have covered about his relationship status. Since he had been away nine years of his own family chasing his cricket dream – a time when personal relationships were obviously subservient to sporting aspiration – his privacy in this sense is in line with the rest of his personality. This is an important aspect of his life that fans and followers admire, and his attention is well concentrated on his cricket.
Professional Career
The professional cricketing career of Kumar Kartikeya started when he left Sultanpur at the age of 15 with 40 rupees in his pocket, boarded a train without a place to go and found himself in Delhi. His early years there were characterized by struggle – he was unable to afford lunch during periods of time and had to work at a factory close to Ghaziabad as a way of earning money to support himself in his training. His raw talent was discovered by coach Sanjay Bhardwaj and he took him in and financed all his cricketing expenses over a period of six years and finally guided him to Madhya Pradesh to get trials.
Kartikeya found a refuge of his talent in Madhya Pradesh. He was chosen in the Under-23s as an understudy and made his way into the senior team in all the three formats. His bowling developed much around this time – starting as a left-arm orthodox spinner, he learned to spin the wrist through watching YouTube videos and practising tirelessly, finally becoming a bowler who was capable of combining orthodox, wrist spin, legspin, and gobbledegook. This multi-dimensional skill set became his hallmark professional asset.
Domestic Career
Kartikeya had his List A debut with Madhya Pradesh in the 201819 Vijay Hazare Trophy, playing against Saurashtra on 26 September 2018 and dismissing Robin Uthappa with the 10-1-28-1. He made his Ranji Trophy and T20 debuts on 28 November 2018 and 2 March 2019 respectively, respectively, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Kerala, respectively, and took three wickets on his debut in the latter.
Season / Tournament Performance
Vijay Hazare Trophy 201819 (debut) 1/28 out of 10 overs; out Robin Uthappa.
Ranji Trophy 201819 (debut) 1 wicket vs Kerala.
SMAT 2018–19 (T20 debut) 3/10 from 4 overs; MP won by 50 runs
Ranji Trophy 202122 32 wickets, avg 21.00; 4-wkt in finale; MP won Ranji Trophy.
Ranji Trophy 2022 23 30 wickets; maiden FC ten wicket-haul vs Chandigarh.
Ranji Trophy 202324 – 30+ wickets; first red-ball legspin wickets.
Duleep Trophy 2025 4/53 and 4/110 in the final (Central Zone).
Ranji Trophy 2025–26 19 wickets at 23.05; 8-wkt match haul vs Goa
IPL Career
In 2022, Kartikeya joined the IPL as a net bowler with Mumbai Indians before replacing the injured Mohammad Arshad Khan in the mid-season once he became injured. On 30 April 2022, he made his IPL debut against Rajasthan Royals and in his first outing, he got the coveted wicket of Sanju Samson.
IPL Season Team Matches Wickets Economy Price.
2022 Mumbai Indians 4 5 ~7.50 ₹20 Lakh
2023 Mumbai Indians 8 5 ~9.20 Retained
2024 Mumbai Indians 0 (did not play) — — Retained
2025 Rajasthan Royals 4+ 2+ 8.66 career ₹30 Lakh
One of the highlights of his 2025 IPL season was when Kartikeya had an on-field conversation with Virat Kohli, during the RR vs RCB game. His comment- Bhaiya, aapko nahin bol raha hoon- was an imaginative quote that attracted the attention of the cricket fans and demonstrated the fearless nature of his character in times of pressure.
Achievements
Winners Ranji Trophy (202122) with Madhya Pradesh – The first Ranji Trophy in the history of MP; Kartikeya claimed 4 wicket haul in the final.
• Second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy 202122 – 32 wickets with an average of 21.00
• Three consecutive 30+ wicket Ranji Trophy seasons (2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24)
Maiden first-class 10 wicket haul Ranji Trophy 202223 vs Chandigarh
• Most wickets taken by Madhya Pradesh in Ranji Trophy 202526 (19 wickets at 23.05)
• Eight-wicket match haul vs Goa in Ranji Trophy 2025–26 (5/81 + 3/88)
• Two four-wicket hauls of Central Zone in Duleep Trophy 2025 final.
IPL debut wicket — Sanju Samson (RR captain), the first player to be dismissed in April 2022.
• 140+ first-class wickets in 38 matches overall
• First MP spinner to deliver legspin variations in red-ball cricket on senior level.
Net Worth
The source of income Estimation.
Estimated Net Worth (2025) ~₹4 crore (~$500,000 USD)
IPL Contract — Mumbai Indians (2022) ₹20 Lakh.
IPL Deal -Rajasthan Royals (2025) ₹30 Lakh.
Seasonal revenue per match in Madhya Pradesh domestic matches.
Brand endorsements / sponsorships Newer; regional smaller agreements.
Cricket board annual retainer (MPCA) Part of domestic earnings.
The net worth of Kartikeya is small by the standards of the Indian cricketing icons, as he is a domestic specialist and a rising star in IPL instead of being an international cricketer. His living is a low profile one as he has a house in Madhya Pradesh and concentrates his wealth towards a long lasting career. His income and net worth will increase significantly as he finds a more secure IPL position and may even get called to the national team.
Career Statistics
IPL Overall Stats:
Format Mat Wkts Avg Econ SR Best
IPL 16 12 33.92 8.66 23.5 2/22
Domestic General Statistics (estimated, as of 2025):
Format Matches Wickets Average Best Figures
First-Class (Ranji Trophy) 38 168 21.92 10-wkt haul vs Chandigarh
List A (Vijay Hazare) 36 46 ~28.00 3/28
T20 (SMAT & others) 45 51 ~24.00 3/10 (debut)
Social Media Presence
Platform Handle Status / followers.
Instagram imkksingh26 ~120K+ followers; 237 posts; managed by abbotmedia.
Facebook Kumar Kartikeya Singh >3,600 or more followers.
X (Twitter) Inactive No official presence reported.
YouTube No active channel Not confirmed channel.
The main platform of Kartikeya is his Instagram account, which is called imkksingh26. It is professionally run with Abbott Media and includes on-the-field reports, backstage antics, and personal achievements. The feeling he posted after his nine-year family reunion in 2022, after playing in the IPL, was one of the most shared moments in cricket in that year, and touched the hearts of fans throughout India. He does not post on the social media much, but what he does post, receives a lot of engagement among a faithful fanbase that has been with him since the very beginning.
Conclusion
Kumar Kartikeya Singh is among the best underdog stories of cricket, a spinner who created his own fate by sacrificing, believing in himself and not giving up on his profession. His rise to fame has been one of the most captivating India cricket stories of the modern day; a factory worker in Ghaziabad turned Ranji Trophy winner, a 20 lakh IPL backup turned on-field conversationalist with Virat Kohli, and most importantly, a fearless player. Kumar Kartikeya, with 168 first-class wickets, experience in the IPL and a multi-dimensional bowling arsenal, surely has yet to write the best chapters of his career.
The most commonly asked questions (FAQs).
How rich is Kumar Kartikeya?
As of 2025, Kumar Kartikeya has an estimated net worth of around ₹4 crore (~$500,000 USD) due to IPL contracts and Madhya Pradesh domestic cricket fees and up-and-coming brand associations.
What is Kumar Kartikeya’s bowling style?
He is a left arm spinner and can give orthodox finger spin, wrist spin, legspin and googly, a rare and multiple combination that makes him hard to read in any form.
Is Kumar Kartikeya married?
There is no publicly available information about Kumar Kartikeya’s marital status or romantic relationships as of 2025. He is a very secretive person when it comes to his personal life.
Which is the IPL team of Kumar Kartikeya?
At the IPL 2025 mega auction, Kumar Kartikeya was bought by Rajasthan Royals at 30 lakh, after being released by Mumbai Indians, with whom he played since 2022.
Which is the Instagram of Kumar Kartikeya?
His official Instagram is @imkksingh26 with more than 120,000 followers.
