IPL 2023: Nitish Rana to Lead Kolkata Knight Riders in the Absence of Shreyas Iyer

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Monday announced that batsman Nitish Rana will lead the team in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Rana will take over the captaincy duties in the absence of Shreyas Iyer who is currently nursing a back injury.

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“Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas lyer, who is recovering from a back injury,” the official KKR statement read.

The franchise is optimistic about Iyer’s return in the later stage of the tournament. Till then, the team will be led by Delhi’s Nitish Rana under the watchful eyes of head coach Chadrakant Pandit.

“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,” the statement added.

Nitish Rana has played 91 games so far in the IPL and has scored 2181 runs at an average of 27.96. He has 15 half-centuries to his credit with the highest score of 87. Besides KKR, Rana has also played for the Mumbai Indians. Overall, he has played 161 T20 games and scored 3862 runs and also has a century to his name.

Rana joined KKR in 2018 and has scored more than 300 runs in each of the next five seasons. He also has prior experience in leading Delhi in the Indian domestic circuit.

Back in 2021, Rana made his international debut on the tour of Sri Lanka, under the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan. He has played two T20Is and an ODI, scoring 15 and 7 runs, respectively. 

Update on Shreyas Iyer’s injury

Iyer suffered a relapse of a back injury during the fourth Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. He was advised of surgery which is expected to be conducted either in India itself or in London with the BCCI keeping a close watch over proceedings.

India are scheduled to play Australia in the World Test Championship Final from June 7-11 at the Oval in London. The IPL starts on March 31 and in Iyer’s absence, KKR were forced to look for a new captain.

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