KKR Appoint Nitish Rana As New Skipper For IPL 2023

New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders have appointed a new skipper for the first half of the Indian Premier League’s latest edition. Star batter Nitish Rana replaced Shreyas Iyer for this designation. The Kolkata-based franchise made this announcement from its official Twitter handle.

Official statement. @NitishRana_27 #AmiKKR #KKR #Nitish #NitishRana pic.twitter.com/SeGP5tBoql

— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) March 27, 2023

Shreyas Iyer is set to miss the first half of the 16th edition due to a back injury. However, is expected to join the squad back and take up the role of skipper mid-season.

“Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from a back injury. 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. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery,” KKR said in their official statement.

Earlier, there were speculations that Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine would be leading the team but the franchise surprised everyone with their announcement. KKR will take on Punjab Kings in their opening match of IPL 2023