Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on May 4 (Thursday) announced that Two-time T20 World Cup winner with West Indies, Johnson Charles as the replacement for Litton Das for the remainder of the ongoing edition of the cash-rich tournament. KKR have secured Charles' services for Rs 50 lakh as Bangladesh's Litton Das returned home earlier in the month owing to a medical emergency in the family. Charles, who is a wicketkeeper-batter and was part of the West Indies T20 World Cup winning squad in 2012 and 2016, has a ton of experience when it comes to playing T20 cricket.
The 34-year-old Charles has played is an experienced campaigner having represented West Indies in 41 T20Is and 48 ODIs. The destructive batter has aggregated 971 runs for West Indies in T20Is at a strike rate of 130.86.
Overall, the right-handed batter has scored 5,607 runs in 224 T20 matches at a strike rate of 130.72 with the help of three centuries, including one in international cricket, and 32 half-centuries. He has also whacked a grand total of 261 sixes in the shortest format of the game.
Earlier in the year (on March 26), the veteran West Indies batter destroyed South Africa's bowling attack in the second T20I at SuperSport Park in Centurion. The explosive right-handed batter registered the fastest century by a West Indies cricketer, and in the process, annihilated former captain Chris Gayle's record. Charles' outrageous stroke-making also made him the fourth quickest to record a century in T20I cricket. The 34-year-old reached the three-figure mark in just 39 balls after taking Proteas' bowlers to the cleaners.
In his breathtaking knock of 118 runs off 46 balls, the muscular Charles powered 10 fours and 11 sixes. The swashbuckling batter came out to bat at No.3 and demonstrated spectacular power-hitting skills, recording a strike rate of 256.52.
During his stupendous knock, Charles overhauled Gayle's mark to secure the record for the fastest century in T20I by a West Indian batter. Gayle previously held the record when he smashed a 47-ball century against England in 2016.
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