Kolkata Knight Riders announce Nitish Rana as new captain for IPL 2023

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have named Nitish Rana as their new skipper ahead of the IPL 2023 season. KKR had to appoint a new captain after their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the majority of the matches due to a back injury.

It is unclear whether Shreyas Iyer will return to the Kolkata Knight Riders squad during the latter phase of IPL 2023, but he is guaranteed to miss the first few matches at least. In his absence, Rana will lead the KKR franchise for the first time in his IPL career.

Announcing Nitish Rana as their new captain earlier today, the Kolkata Knight Riders wrote on Instagram:

"Kaptaan - 𝘠𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘩 𝘣𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪. Action begins, 1st April 2023."

Fans have loved the Kolkata Knight Riders team management's decision as the Instagram reel has gained more than 1,000 likes in just a few minutes. More than 100 fans have left a comment under the post as well.

Nitish Rana has played 74 IPL matches for Kolkata Knight Riders

Rana is one of the most experienced Indian players present in the KKR squad for IPL 2023. He has been with the Kolkata-based franchise since the 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League. The left-handed batter has represented KKR in 74 IPL matches, scoring 1,744 runs at an average of 27.68.

The Kolkata Knight Riders have never given him an opportunity to lead the team before. Before joining KKR, he played a couple of seasons for the Mumbai Indians, where he did not get a chance to lead as well. Nitish is set to make his captaincy debut in the IPL this year.

It will be interesting to see how the Knight Riders perform under their new captain. The Kolkata-based franchise will open their IPL 2023 campaign against Punjab Kings on April 1.