Nitish Rana has been named captain of Kolkata Knight Riders for the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League. This comes after Shreyas Iyer suffered a back injury that will keep him out for half the season.
Earlier reports suggested that Shardul Thakur, and Sunil Narine were all vying for the captaincy of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming season. However, it has now been confirmed that Nitish Rana will be the one leading the team, taking over from Shreyas Iyer.
Here’s what KKR said in a statement:
“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 of 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.”
With 361 runs at a strike rate of 143.82, Nitish Rana was the second-highest run-scorer for KKR in the previous season, just behind Shreyas Iyer. However, the team’s overall performance was not up to par, as they finished in seventh place with only six wins and eight losses.
The appointment of Rana as KKR Captain marks the beginning of a new era for the franchise, with a new coach-captain combination set to lead the team in the upcoming season.
Earlier, the two-time champions brought on board Chandrakant Pandit as their new head coach, replacing Brendon McCullum who stepped down last year to take up a role with the England national cricket team.
Kolkata Knight Riders are set to kick off their IPL 2023 season with a match against Punjab Kings on 1st April at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
