KKR Squad IPL 2024: A big change in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Squad as they announced the Sri Lankan pacer Dushmantha Chameera as the replacement of the English pacer Gus Atkinson.
Atkinson, who has not yet appeared in the IPL, was picked by KKR in the December 2023 IPL Auction at his base price of INR 1 Crore. During the auction, Chameera, whose initial bid was INR 50 Lakh, had no buyers.
Gus Atkinson made his T20I and ODI debut for England during the home series against New Zealand in 2023. His first T20I game was just like a dream debut where he scalped 4 wickets against New Zealand including big names like Devon Conway and Tim Seifert. In the second game, he got two big wickets in the context of the game of Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell.
He didn’t get any wicket in his ODI debut, he was impressive though. He played 9 ODIs and 3 T20Is and has picked up a total of 17 wickets. Overall, he has played 46 T20s so far and has taken 62 wickets.
Known for his pace and lateral movement, Chameera can cause hitters problems with his swing and seam movements. He played for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 and the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2021 IPL seasons, respectively.
In the 2022 season, he played for the Lucknow Super Giants, taking nine wickets in 12 games. In the IPL 2024 auction, he was passed over by every franchise. Over the past year, Chameera has struggled with injuries frequently. Due to knee and shoulder issues, he could not participate in the Asia Cup or the ICC World Cup in 2023.
KKR Ropes in Chameera
IPL Officials released a media advisory to confirm the report. They wrote “Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Dushmantha Chameera as a replacement for England pacer Gus Atkinson for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.“
Updated Squad OF KKR: KS Bharat (Rs. 50 lakh), Chetan Sakariya (Rs. 50 lakh), Mitchell Starc (Rs. 24.75 crore), Manish Pandey (Rs. 50 lakh), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (Rs. 20 lakh), Ramandeep Singh (Rs. 20 lakh), Sherfane Rutherford (Rs. 1.5 crore), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Rs. 2 crore), Dusmantha Chameera (Rs. 50 Lakh), Sakib Hussain (Rs. 20 lakh).
Source- IPL OFFICIAL WEBSITE