The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Nitish Rana as their captain for the upcoming IPL 2023 tournament as their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the better part of the tournament due to his back injury.
Iyer, who had been troubled with a bad back since the start of this year, had to miss the ODIs against New Zealand and the first two Tests against Australia as well due to his back pain. He made his return in the Indore Test and experienced back pain once more after fielding for 170-odd overs in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad and was unable to bat as well.
Now scans have revealed a serious injury to Iyer’s back and he was given an option for surgery, but has opted against it for now, and will go for rehab and recovery as he mulls undergoing the knife and be ready for the ODI World Cup 2023.
Therefore, the Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to name Nitish Rana as their new captain for the IPL 2023 tournament.
They announced the appointment on social media accounts with the caption reading: “Kaptaan – ?? ??? ??? ??????? ???. Action begins, 1st April 2023 @nitishrana_official #AmiKKR #KKR #TATAIPL2023 #Captain #Leader”
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Rana was KKR’s second-highest run-scorer last season, behind Shreyas, with 361 runs at a strike rate of 143.82. It was a disappointing year for the team, as they finished seventh in the league with six wins and eight losses.
We Feel Fortunate That Nitish Rana With His Experience Will Do A Great Job As Captain: KKR Management
Rana was one of two candidates for the interim captaincy along with Sunil Narine, who joined the franchise in 2012 and has been with them ever since.
He has led his state team Delhi in 12 T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, with eight wins and four defeats. A 29-year-old middle-order batter, he was bought by KKR ahead of the 2018 season and has been retained by the franchise ever since. He’s played 74 matches for them, scoring 1744 runs at a strike rate of 135.61.
“Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from a back injury. While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the IPL 2023 edition, we feel fortunate that Nitish, with the captaincy experience having led his state side in white ball cricket and the IPL experience he has had with KKR since 2018, will do a great job.
We are also confident that under Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will get all the support needed off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all support that Nitish may need on the field. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery,” KKR said in a statement.
Official statement. @NitishRana_27 #AmiKKR #KKR #Nitish #NitishRana pic.twitter.com/SeGP5tBoql
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 27, 2023