KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer is more or less ruled out of the upcoming IPL season and the franchise is set to name a new captain soon. Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur have emerged as the frontrunners to replace Iyer as the captain in IPL 2023, Times of India has reported. Narine has been playing for the franchise since 2012 and played a crucial role for KKR in their two title triumphs. However, his captaincy in the inaugural edition of International League T20 (ILT20) might go against him as the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders won one and lost eight matches.
Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur's name is likely to surprise many but it is being understood that his communication with the Indian players will be better in the team. Moreover, his bond with the head coach Chandrakant Pandit is well known to everyone. For the unversed, Delhi Capitals had bought Thakur for INR 10.75 crore in the mega auction but then traded him to KKR after the last season.
An official announcement is expected to be made in the next couple of days. "Within a day or two, KKR are set to make an announcement of their new captain in a grand function, with their owner, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and an overseas pop star set to light up the occasion," a source told.
Also, the KKR skipper will have to attend the captain's meeting on March 30 in Ahmedabad. KKR will get their campaign underway in IPL 2023 against Punjab Kings in Mohali on April 1.
KKR squad for IPL 2023: Shreyas Iyer (Captain, doubtful), Mandeep Singh, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Shakib Al Hasan, David Wiese, Andre Russell, N Jagadeesan, Litton Das, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora, Lockie Ferguson, Harshit Rana, KUlwant Khejroliya, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Suyash Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakaravarthy, Umesh Yadav.
