Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked Chetan Sakariya as a replacement for Umran Malik for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. An official release by KKR confirmed that Jammu and Kashmir speedster Umran Malik has been ruled out of the season due to an injury. The release, however, didn't mention any details on the injury.
Sakariya has represented India in an ODI and two T20Is and has played 19 IPL games, scalping 20 wickets from the same. The pacer started his IPL journey with the Rajasthan Royals franchise before moving to the Delhi Capitals in 2022. In all T20s, he has 65 wickets from 46 games at a healthy economy of 7.69. Sakariya, a left-arm medium pacer, joins KKR for INR 75 Lakh.
Sakariya was part of the KKR setup last year but didn't get any game time in KKR's title-winning campaign. He then went unsold at the mega auction held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last year. But an injury to Umran has now opened the gates for the 27-year-old.
IPL 2025, KKR complete schedule: Check Kolkata Knight Riders matches, date, timings, and venue
Kolkata Knight Riders have won the IPL three times with ex-India batter Gautam Gambhir playing crucial roles on all three occasions. Gambhir had led the Kolkata-based outfit to not one but two IPL titles as captain – in 2012 and 2014. And after a ten-year break, the franchise won their third championship thanks in large part to Gambhir, who returned to the team this time as a mentor.
The franchise will now target their fourth title as the brand new season gets underway from March 22. The defending champions KKR kick-off the tournament against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
The franchise have announced Ajinkya Rahane as their new skipper after they chose not to retain the title-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer, who was roped in by Punjab Kings for a whooping Rs 26.75 crore at the auction.
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