Who will lead KKR in IPL 2023?

stumpsandbails
3 min readMar 21, 2023

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Shreyas Iyer has been forced out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia due to a recurring back injury, and according to some media reports, the star batter will not be available to play for his IPL franchise in the sixteenth edition of Indian Premier League, starting Mar 31st.

Iyer, who was part of India’s 11 in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy test against Australia, did not bat in the game due to the same back issue.

He, however was set to bat on second day, but he suddenly felt the same issue with his back and then been sent to the hospital.

Indian skipper also commented on his issue and informed the media about Iyer’s back pain.

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“Poor guy. It just was such an unfortunate incident. He had to wait all day (second day) to bat and then when the day got over, the issue he had with his back recurred. He was sent to the hospital to take scans. I don’t know the exact report of the scans, but he does not seem to be doing that well.”

This is a huge blow for Indian team, but the selectors have already announced Sanju Samson as his replacement for the three-match ODI series against Australia.

The biggest question now is who is the capable leader of Kolkata Knight Riders in the absence of Shreyas Iyer?

Who will lead KKR in Shreyas Iyer’s absence?

Iyer’s back injury left the whole KKR management in dilemma as whom to pick as skipper for the IPL 2023. There are no back up leaders in the team, but we can assume some of the international stars present in the side might get a chance to lead KKR in Iyer’s absence.

Sunil Narine

The magical spinner is the heart of KKR since 2012. Narine turned out to be one of the biggest match-winners for KKR in the last ten years, and won some matches for his side singlehandedly.

He so far in his IPL career has taken 152 wickets in 148 games, and also recorded 1025 runs with bat at a strike-rate of over 162. Isn’t it impressive?

Narine has been the ups and lows of KKR in the last ten years and knows the pressure of playing in front of thousands of spectators. He also led the KKR’s team in ILT20, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in 2023, and he can get a chance to lead Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2023 too.

Andre Russell

Another international star, who is a long-standing member of the franchise. He joined KKR in 2014 and since then continuing with the side.

Russell is a big name in international circuit, and even bigger in IPL. Not just in IPL, he has been part of many other T20 leagues in the world that provided him a lot of experience of handling the situations in big tournament and KKR might opt to choose him as a possible skipper of Kolkata Knight Riders in place of injured Iyer.

Shakib Al Hasan

The Bangladeshi all-rounder is a proven leader, and an in-form player. Bangladesh just defeated the reigning T20 Champions, England by 3–0 in the T20 series under Shakib’s leadership.

He is member of KKR form long-time, and exactly knows how to handle the team during pressure situations, there will be no surprise if the KKR management picks Shakib Al Hasan for the captaincy role of KKR in Shreyas Iyer’s absence.

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