IPL 2023: Who will captain Kolkata Knight Riders in the absence of Shreyas Iyer?

IPL 2023: The season of nail-bitters, thrillers, super overs and endless entertainment is here. The cricket extravaganza IPL 16 will kick start from 31st March and will end on 28th May. The curtain raiser will be played between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi International Stadium on Friday (31st March). The teams have started their preparations on the full go and are leaving no stone unturned. It is expected that like all the seasons, it'll be another blockbuster season.

IPL 2023: Sunil Narine and Nitish Rana are front runners to captain KKR in the IPL 16 

IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders have been jolted with a massive blow even before the league started. Skipper Shreyas Iyer reportedly has been ruled out for at least the first half of the season due to a back injury. The right-hander complained about the pain during the recently concluded fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India in Ahmedabad.?

He was taken for the scans after that and his injury seemed much worse than expected as he was ruled out of the ODI series and the majority of the IPL as well. To be completely fit, the batter requires to undergo the surgery and it is learned that as per the reports in cricbuzz the batter has decided against the surgery as he?s keen to be part of the World Cup more than the IPL. Surgery will rule him out for at least 6-7 months, that's why he doesn't want to take a risk and will rest during the IPL.?

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It will come as a massive blow for the KKR as they will lose a staggering skipper and the batter. The batter was the leading run-getter for the team last year and was spot-on with his captaincy as well. They anyhow will find someone to bat in the middle but with the batter most likely to be ruled out of the tournament, there have been many speculations about who will lead the side in his absence.

As per the reports in ESPNCricinfo, it is learned that Sunil Narine and Nitish Rana are the front runners to captain KKR in the IPL 16 in the absence of Iyer. If the reports emerge to be true, it?ll come as a surprise for many as both of them have very less captaincy experience.?

IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign against Punjab Kings

IPL 2023: Kolkata Knight Riders will open their campaign against Punjab Kings on 2nd April in Mohali. They had a dismal outing last season as they were eliminated early. They now would be hoping for a better season. In the absence of Iyer, it?ll be difficult for them to get going but one cannot rule out of the kind of talent they have.?

Here?s the KKR squad for the IPL 2023: 

Shreyas Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaj (Traded), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Anukul Roy, Venkatesh Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Harshit Rana, Shardul Thakur (Traded), N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora

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