The Kolkata Knight Riders have signed Chetan Sakariya to replace Umran Malik in the run-up to the Indian Premier League. Umran has been ruled out of the season due to an unidentified injury. They paid INR 75 lakh to the reigning champions for the Jammu & Kashmir pacer.
Remarkably, Sakariya played for the KKR team during their championship run the previous season. But during the season, he didn’t play in any of the team’s games. After the season, he was released in advance of the massive auction that took place in November 2024, so it makes sense that he was not included in the franchise’s plans. Sakariya would most likely be viewing this as a fantastic chance to advance his league hopes, given he is also being paid INR 75 lakh.
The left-arm seamer, 27, participated in 19 matches in the prestigious T20 competition between 2021 and 2023. In the IPL 2021, the Rajasthan Royals played 14 of the 19 games. Sakariya thereafter played in just five Delhi Capitals games, taking three wickets each.
The IPL 2025 is slated to start on Saturday, March 22nd. In the tournament’s opening match, KKR will play Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Kolkata’s famous Eden Gardens. In his 20-over career, Sakariya has taken 65 wickets at a respectable economy rate of 7.69 in 46 games. Although he hasn’t worn the Indian jersey since July 2021, he made his white-ball debut for the country.
When it comes to Umran Malik, the past year has been very bad for him.
Following his breakthrough in the 2022 Indian Premier League, the right-arm quick was limited to playing eight and one games in the following two seasons. After a series of subpar performances in 2023, he was released from the team, although an injury kept the tearaway quick from competing in the 2024 edition.
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