Some of the best and brightest in international cricket are finally arriving in India for the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins on March 31 with a clash between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad. One of the new-look sides, complete with a refurbished coaching staff in two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders are also deep in preparations, having brought in some exciting foreign talents like Rahmanullah Gurbaz and of course, Lockie Ferguson.
Ferguson was a part of the IPL 2022 Gujarat squad that won the title in their first season in the league. Ahead of the IPL mini-auction, Ferguson was traded in by KKR for Rs 10 crore. This will be his second stint with the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise, having turned out for the same team from 2019 to 2021.
The club's social media team announced his arrival with a hilarious video. In the video, the director can be seen looking for the vegetable Lauki, i.e bottle gourd in various markets in the city. Finally, a vegetable seller handed over a large-sized bottle gourd and then, the video transitions into a frame of Lockie Ferguson holding it as he says, "You're not looking for this Lauki, you're looking for this Lockie," pointing at himself.
The New Zealand pacer has previously played 18 matches for the Knight Riders bagging 21 wickets. The IPL 2021 was his best season with 13 scalps in eight games as KKR reached the IPL final for the third time in their history. For the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, the Kiwi pacer picked up 12 wickets in 13 games.
New captain for KKR
Meanwhile, the Riders announced that Nitish Rana will be the team's captain in the absence of the injured Shreyas Iyer. Iyer, who has been suffering from a back injury, has not been completely ruled out of the 16th edition but the likelihood of the right-handed batter recovering in time for the tournament is slim.
"Kolkata Knight Riders today announced that Nitish Rana would captain the side in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who is recovering from a back injury," KKR said in a statement.
"While we are hopeful that Shreyas will recover and participate at some stage in the IPL 2023 edition, we feel fortunate that Nitish, with the captaincy experience having led his state side in white ball cricket and the IPL experience he has had with KKR since 2018, will do a great job. We are also confident that under Head Coach Chandrakant Pandit and the support staff, he will get all the support needed off the field, and the highly experienced leaders in the squad will provide all support that Nitish may need on the field. We wish him the best in his new role and Shreyas a full and speedy recovery," the franchise added.
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