Shakib Al Hasan has reportedly opted out of IPL 2023 after a mutual agreement with the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the franchise now needs a replacement. According to a report by Sportskeeda, the Kolkata-based franchise knew that the all-rounder would only be available for 20 days. Bangladesh Cricket Board has only given permission to Bangladesh players to play in the league from April 8 to May 1.
The reason behind it is that the Bangladesh cricket team will play a lot of matches against the Ireland cricket team when the IPL 2023 season is on. Shakib Al Hasan also had some personal commitments in the United States of America, which is why the all-rounder also agreed and opted out of the IPL 2023 season.
In this listicle now, we will look at the two players whom the Kolkata Knight Riders can sign as a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan in IPL 2023.
1. Travis Head can be a replacement for Shakib Al Hasan
Travis Head was recently on a tour of India. He played some great knocks against the Indian cricket team, in both red and white-ball formats. Courtesy of his recent brilliance on Indian soil, KKR can think of signing him as a replacement for Shakib.
Head is a left-handed batter like Shakib. Plus, the Knight Riders need a reliable batter in the top-order because of Shreyas Iyer’s injury. Someone like Head can provide a lot of balance to the team’s batting lineup.
2. Dasun Shanaka
Dasun Shanaka is a pace-bowling all-rounder. Since the Kolkata Knight Riders already have a pace-bowling all-rounder in Andre Russell, they may be reluctant to sign Shanaka.
However, the reason why they should consider signing him is that they can use him as a batter in the top-order. On top of that, he is an experienced captain and can help Nitish Rana a lot in the leadership group.
