West Indies destructive batsman-keeper Johnson Charles has been roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the remainder of the IPL 2023 season as a replacement for Litton Das, who has left the tournament owing to Bangladesh duties.
Bangladesh and Ireland will compete in a 3-ODI series, part of the ongoing World Cup Super League, which is a direct pathway for qualification for the World Cup 2023 in India. The series will be played in County Ground, Chelmsford. Das was named in the squad to face Ireland from May 9 to May 14 and will not return for the last week of the league phase.
Litton Das had left the KKR camp earlier this month to attend to a medical emergency in his family.
He played only one match in Indian Premier League 2023, scoring 4 runs against Delhi Capitals, after having been bought for INR 50 lakh at the auction.
Charles has been brought in by Kolkata Based Franchise for his base price of INR 50 lakh after going unsold in the auction.
Speaking of Knight Riders, Nitish Rana’s side has been struggling in the IPL 2023 and are all but out of the playoff race. Knight Riders have won only 3 matches out of 9, and with 6 points currently sit at the 8th position in the points table.
In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, their middle-order has lacked consistency; though Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana have come good at times, and Rinku Singh has unlocked a new level, KKR’s batting has been brittle with Andre Russell misfiring. Poorer has been their pace bowling and Kolkata Knight Riders lack wickets in the powerplay which has hurt them. When the spinners have not make a big impression, their bowling has lost the plot.
KKR face SRH on Thursday in Hyderabad.