KKR has named Nitish Rana as their captain for IPL 2023 due to regular skipper Shreyas Iyer’s ongoing recovery from a back injury, which has ruled him out of the first half of the tournament. On March 27, the franchise confirmed the decision on their social media handles, expressing optimism that Iyer “will recover and participate at some stage” in the competition.
Rana was reportedly the frontrunner for the position, alongside Sunil Narine, who has played for the franchise since 2012 and captained the KKR-owned Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE this year. However, the management has given Rana the responsibility of leading the team, citing his experience as captain of his state team in white-ball cricket and his IPL experience since 2018 with KKR.
Rana has won eight out of 12 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches he has captained Delhi in, in addition to playing a solitary ODI and two T20Is for India. He has been a dependable middle-order batsman for KKR, scoring 1744 runs at good strike rate. In the tournament overall, he has amassed 2181 runs with 15 half-centuries at a strike rate of 134.22.
“we feel fortunate that Nitish Rana“…..
“While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the IPL 2023 edition. We feel fortunate that Nitish Rana, 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.” KKR said in a statement
“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,” it read further.
For more sports updates, make sure to follow us on:
