IPL 2023: KKR announce Johnson Charles as replacement for Litton Das

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Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday named Johnson Charles as a replacement for Litton Das for the remainder of the Indian Premier League. Das returned to Bangladesh due to a family medical emergency last week.

The 28-year-old Bangladesh opener, who was bought by KKR at his base price of Rs 50 lakh at last year's auction, was dropped after playing just one match against Delhi Capitals. His poor wicket-keeping led to his axing from the line-up.

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Charles, a wicketkeeper-batter, has represented West Indies in 41 T20Is, scoring 971 runs and was a part of West Indies, 2012 and 2016 ICC World Twenty20-winning squads. Additionally, he has played 224 T20s and has over 5600 runs against his name. He joins KKR for Rs 50 Lakh.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is currently the first-choice foreign wicket-keeper batter for the Kolkata franchise, who are currently in the bottom half of the table with six points in nine games. N Jagadeeshan has also kept wickets this season as KKR have struggled to find consistency at the top of the batting order.

KKR on Thursday face fellow strugglers Sunrisers Hyderabad in an important clash as a defeat for either of the sides may virtually end their chances of playoff spot. Both sides have lost six games each so far.

KKR lost their last game against Gujarat Titans at home with Jason Roy missing out on the game due to an injury. The Englishman scored two half-centuries before missing the Titans match. Gurbaz responded well by scoring 81 as his replacement but it's KKR pace bowling that has come a cropper this IPL

The likes of Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Tim Southee among others have failed to pick wickets this IPL while leaking runs. Spinner Varun Chakravarthy has been the best performer with 13 wickets in nine games.

With inputs from PTI