IPL 2023: With Shreyas, Shakib out, KKR rope in Jason Roy

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have signed England batter Jason Roy for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. Roy, who had a base price of INR 1.5 crore in the IPL 2023 auction, has been snapped up by the two-time champions for INR 2.8 crore.

KKR are without their skipper Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out due to a lower back injury, while all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also confirmed that he would be unavailable for the tournament due to international commitments. In Shreyas' absence, Nitish Rana was announced as captain.

Roy is no stranger to the IPL, having previously played for Gujarat Lions (GL), Delhi Capitals (DC) and most recently for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) 2021, in which he scored 150 runs in five games, including a fifty. The England opener replaced the injured Mitchell Marsh in that edition.

He was bought by Gujarat Titans (GT) for the IPL 2022 season for his base price of INR 2 crore but pulled out of the tournament citing challenge of staying in a bubble for an extended period. GT, who went on to win the tournament, eventually replaced Roy with Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

Roy has also played 64 T20 Internationals (T20I) for England, having scored 1,522 runs at a strike-rate of 137.61, which includes as many as eight fifties.

KKR began their IPL 2023 campaign with a seven-run loss against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali. They next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Thursday (April 6) at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.