IPL 2023: KKR to name interim captain soon, Shardul Thakur and Sunil Narine in contention

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Kolkata Knight Riders will name an interim captain soon for the first few weeks of the Indian Premier League.

Shreyas Iyer, KKR's captain is out with a lower back injury and may miss the entirety of the IPL. Although it is unclear whether he will play any part this season at the latter stages, KKR are set to name a captain before their first match against Punjab Kings on April 1.

As the Knight Riders gear up for their opening match against the Punjab side, they are poised to name a player who will lead the team in the absence of Shreyas Iyer. And according to reports, there are a few names that arr popping in the rumours bubble.

Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and New Zealand's Tim Southee are the players with vast international captaincy experience in the team. But reports suggest KKR may opt with Sunil Narine as the captain, while the name of Shardul Thakur is also in the mix.

Narine has been a mainstay at the franchise and has been donning the colours more than a decade now. He is also part of the Trinbago Knight Riders in CPL and recently led the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ILT20 in the UAE. Although his captaincy with ADKR was a disaster, KKR management may hand him another chance in the IPL.

Shardul Thakur's name has also popped up for the captaincy. Thakur was traded in before the auction from Delhi Capitals as Aman Khan joined the other side. The Indian all-rounder is a handy customer in T20 cricket and is regarded for the captaincy to smoothen the communications among the Indian players in the squad.

KKR will be hoping to have a better campaign as they failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last season. The Knight Riders already are marred with injury issues as Kiwi pacer Lockie Ferguson is dwelling with injury as well.