Kolkata Knight riders have been dealing with many odds in IPL 2023 season. Their captain Shreyas Iyer is not playing with KKR this season due to his back injury. This news has already shocked the KKR franchise and yet another player Shakib Al Hasan’s backout news circulated all over the media a few days ago. Now KKR has decided to move with Jason Roy to replace Shakib.
Shakib informed KKR about his backout from IPL season 2023 a few days ago. He gave the reason for backing out because of his commitments with the Bangladesh T20 tournament. In Bangladesh vs Ireland T20 series, he showed his brilliance and KKR had big hopes for him. However, his withdrawal is another shock to the KKR franchise.
Without Iyer and Shakib, Kolkata Knight Riders have to rely on other players. However, they have found a replacement for captain Shreyas Iyer and Shakib Al Hasan with England batsman Jason Roy.
Can Roy Bring the Win? KKR Substitute Jason Roy
According to ESPN Cricinfo, the KKR franchise has acquired Jason Roy for 2.8 crores. That is approximately USD 341,000; his base price at the time of the preseason auction was INR 1.5 crore. (USD 183,000 approx.).
Jason Roy was seen in IPL in 2021 with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored 150 runs in 5 games. Jason Roy didn’t play IPL 2020 season due to personal reasons. The 32-year-old has played 64 T20Is for England and scored 1522 runs. It will be interesting to see how the English player will contribute to the team. KKR played their first match of this season with Punjab Kings and lost by 7 runs at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali.
Dasun Shanaka to replace Kane Williamson
This IPL season, many teams are being affected by players opting out due to injuries or other reasons. Gujrat Titans on the other hand was free from injuries to date. However, they also suffered a loss in the first match as they lost Kane Williamson because of his knee injury. Now, Gujrat Titans have decided to include Sri Lankan player Dasun Shanaka as a replacement for Kane. This is the second replacement in the tournament after Jason Roy.
His performance in the last few years has made him a prominent player. Dasun can surely contribute his best in the middle over. Gujrat Titans have played two matches to date since IPL 2023 opening and both matches have been excellent for them. First, they played against CSK and won by 5 wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium, second match they played against Delhi Capitals and they again won by 6 wickets. Gujrat Titans have shown their promising performance in the last two matches. They lifted the IPL trophy last year which was their debut year. Now, the team and GT fans will be looking forward to seeing Sri Lankan player Dasun hitting the balls.
