Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have named a mystery spinner from Madhya Pradesh, Shivam Shukla, as a replacement for talismanic Rovman Powell for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season. The three-time champions are already out of the IPL 2025 playoffs race and are currently in the sixth spot in the IPL standings with 12 points from their 13 games.
A statement from the league regarding Kolkata Knight Riders’ replacement stated: “The West Indian all-rounder needs a surgical intervention of his tonsils. Shukla – a leg-spinner – plays for Madhya Pradesh in Domestic Cricket and will join KKR for Rs 30 Lakh.” Powell had scored just five runs in the one innings he got in the ongoing season of the IPL.
The Kolkata team will also be without spinner Moeen Ali.
Kolkata Knight Riders have just one final match of the season remaining against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on May 25. It’s a season that has seen them get little joy after watching their IPL-winning captain Shreyas Iyer leave the team before the IPL mega auctions and join the Punjab Kings, who are currently in line to make the playoffs. Kolkata have had two rain-affected games in the season, the one against Punjab Kings and the recent game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which sealed their fate.
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Former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch said Kolkata Knight Riders were themselves to blame for their fate this season.
“It didn’t start well for Kolkata Knight Riders. Andre Russell, being the match-winner that he is and has been for such a long time, was batting too far down the order for much of the tournament. He simply wasn’t given the opportunities to influence games the way he can. They’ve only got themselves to blame. They almost kicked themselves after that last game against CSK – it was theirs to win. The match was almost wrapped up, and they still couldn’t cross the line, which turned out to be an incredible win for Chennai. Throughout the season, there were too many moments where Kolkata just didn’t click,” Finch said on JioHotstar.
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