Troubled Kolkata Knight Riders seem to be getting a lifeline after regular captain Shreyas Iyer’s injury and Shakib Al Hasan’s sudden withdrawal from the tournament. Two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday brought in England opener Jason Roy for almost double his price.
KKR did not say whether Roy would be available for the IPL home match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. KKR suffered a major setback when Iyer was ruled out of the entire season due to a back injury, while Shakib pulled out citing personal and national commitments.
In 2021, he played five matches, scoring 150 runs including a half-century. The 32-year-old has played 64 T20Is for England, scoring 1,522 runs at a strike-rate of 137.61 with eight fifties. Roy is likely to replace Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who opened in their match against Punjab Kings and scored 22 off 16 balls. The Purple Brigade already have N Jagadeesan to don the gloves.
It is to be noted that in the absence of Iyer, the captaincy of the team is with Nitish Rana. The team had suffered a 7-run defeat against the Punjab Kings in their first game of the tournament.