CricketFeature

The journey of Ali Khan – KKR’s new recruit

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have roped in Ali Khan as Harry Gurney’s replacement for the upcoming IPL 2020. A lot of people, who don’t follow associate cricket closely, would be wondering who Ali Khan is.

Ali recently played for Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL and played a key role in their title triumph and it was from there that the KKR support staff spotted him because a large chunk of the KKR support staff was also associated with TKR including the head coach Brendon McCullum himself.

Ali was born in Punjab, Pakistan in 1990, but he moved to United States with his family when he was a young kid. Ali first came into the limelight in the Regional Super 50 tournament in West Indies where a team from USA, named ICC Americas, was also participating.

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Ali Khan – The first American Cricketer to play in IPL

Ali was a part of the ICC Americas squad in that tournament and impressed one and all in his first appearance itself, after which he was able to break into the USA national team as well.

As Ali played for USA and caught eyeballs around the world, he got the opportunity to play in various T20 leagues around the world including CPL, Pakistan Super League and the Afghanistan Super League.

Ali had previously put up his name in the IPL auctions as well, but had gone unsold as the franchises were mostly looking for big names as their overseas recruits.

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Ali’s strength is his pace and accuracy, but he is also one of those bowlers who back himself to nail the yorkers under pressure. Since, he has got a bit of a slingy action, it helps him get that slight late inward movement with his yorkers which makes him even more lethal.

Ali, who is 29 years of age at the moment, has so far played 36 T20 matches in his career and has grabbed 38 wickets at an average of 27.13. His economy rate of 8.63 is, however, a bit on the higher side.

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Abhishek

I write a bit on cricket and I am more interested in technical and tactical side of the game, rather than bravado.

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