Nitish Rana will serve as the de facto skipper for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2023. Shreyas Iyer, who will skip the beginning of the season due to a back injury, will be replaced by the left-hander.
“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,” a release from the franchise stated.
For the KKR squad over the past few years, Nitish Rana has consistently produced 300+ runs or more at a respectable rate in each of his last six IPL seasons. Due to Shreyas’ absence in the middle order this season, Rana has an even more important role to perform.
“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 begin their quest for a third title with a clash away to the Punjab Kings on April 1.