KKR announced that Moeen Ali and Rovman Powell could not come back and join the team due to medical reasons. (Sportzpics)The Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday announced that spinner Moeen Ali and allrounder Rovman Powell could not come back and join the team due to medical reasons. This effectively rules both players out for the remaining season with KKR’s chances of a playoff spot hanging by a thread following their loss to Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata earlier this month
“All KKR Players and Support Staff have arrived in Bangalore, except Rovman Powell & Moeen Ali. Both Powell and Ali couldn’t come back due to medical reasons. Rovman is undergoing a procedure, while Moeen and his family are down with a viral infection. We wish them good health and a quick recovery,” the franchise said.
Running a slender chance to lower the necessary cut-off to even 15 points, KKR will need to win all of their remaining matches to stay in contention. If KKR win both games, they will require PBKS to lose all three. Moreover, Delhi will also need to beat Punjab while losing all other games. Kolkata will next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday before wrapping up their group stage commitments against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 25.
Meanwhile, despite finding themselves in the top-2 on the points table standings and a Playoffs almost assured, RCB are set to lose a chunk of their first-choice overseas players. Uncertainty looms over the return of RCB’s pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood who is currently nursing an injury and an integral member of Australia’s World Test Championship that will begin shortly after the IPL Playoffs that will now extend itself to the first week of June.
However, things could get even stiffer for RCB as they could also miss out on England’s Jacob Bethell, West Indies all-rounder Romario Shepherd and South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi should they qualify for the Playoffs.
RCB are only a win away from 18 points. Bengaluru have two home games remaining and could even target a top-2 finish if they rack up wins in all of their remainig games.
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