IPL 2023: Nitish Rana to lead Kolkata Knight Riders

• Kolkata Knight Riders have announced Nitish Rana as their captain for IPL 2023 after Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out with an injury
• Rana led his Delhi State team in 12 T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with eight wins and four defeats
• Rana was their second highest run-scorer last season, behind Shreyas, with 361 runs at a strike rate of 143.82

Nitish Rana has been named the interim captain of Kolkata Knight Riders while their regular skipper Shreyas Iyer recovers from a back injury that is likely to rule him out for at least the first half of IPL 2023.

Rana led his Delhi State team in 12 T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with eight wins and four defeats. The 29-year-old middle-order batsman was bought by KKR ahead of the 2018 season and has been retained by the franchise ever since. He played 74 matches for them, scoring 1744 runs at a strike rate of 135.61.

Rana was their second highest run-scorer last season, behind Shreyas, with 361 runs at a strike rate of 143.82. It was a disappointing year for KKR as they finished seventh in the league with six wins and eight losses.

With Rana taking over as captain, KKR will be under completely new management this season, with Chandrakant Pandit replacing Brendon McCullum as head coach and Bharat Arun being appointed bowling coach.