<strong>Who could KKR choose to be their interim captain in Shreyas Iyer’s absence? </strong>

AayushPathak

 By Aayush Pathak March 23, 2023

Things are not looking good for Kolkata Knight Riders at the moment. The team is most likely to miss the services of their full-time Captain Shreyas Iyer, who is set to miss the IPL due to an injury. KKR’s top priority at the moment is to look for an interim captain, who could manage the players in Iyer’s absence. 

Who could KKR turn to? 

KKR have a number of options to look forward to. They have Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan and Kiwi skipper Tim Southee on the team. Both of them have had recent success in leading their teams. Under Shakib’s captaincy, Bangladesh recently defeated World Champions England at home whereas Southee recently led New Zealand to a 2-0 victory against Sri Lanka in tests. 

In terms of Indian options, KKR have Nitish Rana who recently led Delhi during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. In 12 games, Rana was able to win 8 games for his team. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell are also senior players associated with the squad but they do not strike as captaincy material. 

However, there have been reports that Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine are in contention to be the skipper. Nonetheless, KKR will soon announce their captain, along with the player whom they would choose to replace the injured Shreyas Iyer

KKR will begin their IPL 2023 campaign with an away game against the Punjab Kings on April 1, 2023. They will then play their first home game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 6, 2023.

What happened to Iyer? 

Shreyas has been struggling with lower back pain since December 2022, which was after India’s tour of Bangladesh. Due to this injury, he missed India vs New Zealand ODI series and the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2023. However, he returned to the XI for the second and third Tests against Australia but had to withdraw during the fourth Test due to recurring back pain.

Iyer is currently advised to rest and undergo rehabilitation to reduce the pain and avoid surgery. However, surgery remains an option that he might consider. Iyer has reportedly informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials that he wants to explore all possible options before making a decision on surgery.

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