Kolkata Knight Riders will miss the services of their key players Shreyas Iyer and Shakib Al Hasan in IPL 2023. While Shreyas Iyer is set to undergo an injury, Shakib has also confirmed his unavailability for the season after which KKR have signed England opener Jason Roy as the replacement of Shakib Al Hasan.
The KKR franchise is also missing the services of their two other overseas players. Litton Das is a part of the Bangladesh squad for the test series against Ireland while pacer Lockie Ferguson is yet to become fully fit to participate in IPL 2023.
Kolkata Knight Riders rope in Jason Roy as the replacement of Shakib Al Hasan
Both Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das were declared unavailable for the initial phase of IPL 2023 as they were a part of the Bangladesh squad for the series against Ireland. However, later Shakib Al Hasan made it clear that he will remain unavailable for the complete IPL 2023 season which came as a shock for the KKR franchise.
Their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer too has suffered a back injury. On April 4 it was made clear that Shreyas Iyer will undergo back surgery after which he was officially ruled out of IPL 2023. In the absence of their two-star players, KKR badly needed a replacement.
Kolkata Knight Riders have now announced aggressive English opener Jason Roy as the replacement of Shakib Al Hasan. The Kolkata-based franchise has signed Jason Roy for INR 2.8 crore and is expected to provide the much-needed strength to their batting lineup.
The aggressive opening batter has previously represented Gujarat Lions, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Jason Roy was bought by Gujarat Titans in the in mega auction ahead of IPL 2022 but he pulled out of the tournament just before the start.
Jason Roy has played 64 T20Is for England, scoring 1522 runs at a strike rate of 137.61 with 8 fifties. He has also got a fair bit of experience playing in Indian conditions. Roy will join the KKR squad ahead of their next match against Gujarat Titans on April 9.
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In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana is leading the Kolkata Knight Riders’ side. However, he clearly looked short of options in their first game against Punjab Kings where they lost the game by 7 runs. Jason Roy’s addition will certainly help Nitish Rana to play a much stronger playing XI.