IPL 2023: Who is Aarya Desai, the player KKR signed for IPL this season

Kolkata Knight Riders have signed youngster Aarya Desai for the remainder of the IPL 2023 season. The announcement was made by the IPL through a media release on Friday (April 14).

"Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday brought Aarya Desai on board for the remainder of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. He joins KKR for INR 20 Lakh," a media release from the Indian Premier League official website wrote.

Who is Aarya Desai?

Aarya Desai is a 20-year-old player who hails from Gujarat. The youngster is a left-handed batter who has represented Gujarat in First-Class cricket and has scored 151 runs in three matches.

Desai was born in Surat and made his senior debut earlier this year. He is also fond of football and is a huge Cristiano Ronaldo fan.

Just got notified that Aarya bhai will be joining us in our #TATAIPL journey.

Join us in welcoming him, Knight fam! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/gitHRhmG4m
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 14, 2023

The media release didn't announce whether Desai was roped in as a replacement for Shreyas Iyer. The KKR captain Shreyas Iyer is set to miss the entire IPL 2023 campaign with a back injury.

KKR have already roped in Jason Roy as a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan, as the Bangladeshi all-rounder withdrew from the KKR squad due to international commitments and personal reasons.

Aarya Desai is supposed to join the KKR side on Saturday as the Knight Riders team travels to Mumbai to face Mumbai Indians on Sunday (April 16). KKR lost their second match of the season on Friday as they were beaten by Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens.