The defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will be without their fast bowler Umran Malik, who has been ruled out of the season due to an unknown injury. Chetan Sakariya has been signed as his replacement for a base price of 75 lakhs ahead of the season opener.
Umran Malik played in the Duleep Trophy during the 2024-2025 season but suffered from severe dengue, which kept him out of the tournament for several weeks. After his recovery, he sustained a hip injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Since then, his recovery status has been unclear, and now he has been officially ruled out for the current season.
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Chetan Sakariya, who was with KKR during their title-winning season last year, did not get any playing opportunities after being signed for the base price. At the mega auction for the current season, he went unsold, as there were no bids for the left-arm seamer. Now, he has been given another chance to prove himself by being signed as a replacement by KKR for 75 lakhs.
Chetan Sakariya is a promising left-arm seamer with impressive stats in T20 cricket, having taken 65 wickets in 46 matches at a respectable economy rate of 7.69. He has the ability to swing the ball both ways and execute yorkers accurately at the death
Chetan Sakariya had a fantastic start to his IPL career with the Rajasthan Royals, where he excelled in his debut season. The following year, he was signed by the Delhi Capitals but struggled with his performance as his form declined. Since then, he has found it challenging to regain his form due to a lack of opportunities. To date, he has taken a total of 19 wickets in 20 IPL matches.
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Although KKR has lost Umran Malik, Chetan Sakariya has consistently outperformed him in the statistical column, and he certainly has the potential to deliver impactful performances well along side Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora.
Here is the KKR squad for IPL 2025
Batters: Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Luvnith Sisodia
Wicket-keepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Quinton de Kock
All-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine
Bowlers: Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya(Replacement), Anrich Nortje, Spencer Johnson, Mayank Markande
