Aman Khan, 25, is a big-hitting batter who can also bowl useful medium pace. At the mega IPL auction earlier this year, Kolkata Knight Riders signed him for INR 20 lakh (USD 26,000 approx).
According to kkr.in, Aman’s father wanted him to be a fast bowler, which meant he rarely got a chance to bat in his formative years. The turning point came when he had a road accident in which he injured his thigh and toe, but still played the next day and scored 60 in a local Under-14 tournament. That was enough to impress his coach Pravin Amre, who promoted him to No. 4 in the next match. Soon, he was opening the innings.
Aman’s impressive performances for Mumbai U-19 earned him a call-up in the Cooch Behar Trophy (India’s national age-group tournament) but a ligament tear ruled him out of the tournament.
Selection for Mumbai’s senior team
Aman made his debut in the senior Mumbai side in the quarter-final of the 2020-21 Vijay Hazare Trophy (the domestic List A tournament). He neither batted nor bowled in that game against Saurashtra, but he struck 25 off 18 balls from No. 6 in the semi-final against Karnataka. Three days later, he was part of the side that lifted the trophy by beating Uttar Pradesh by six wickets, though his two overs went for 22 and he didn’t get to bat.
During the 2021-22 season, Aman also made his T20 debut, playing five matches in the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He batted mostly in the lower-middle order and scored 40 runs at a strike rate of 148.14.
Auditioning for IPL
Aman had been appearing for trials for various IPL franchises for six years before finally breaking through. In 2018, he had hit 85 off 47 balls, including six fours and as many sixes, in the T20 Mumbai League. During that knock, he was involved in a 127-run stand with Iyer.