IPL 2023: 3 players who can replace Shreyas Iyer in KKR squad

In a big blow to Kolkata Knight Riders, Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2023 as he’s decided to get a surgery done for his recurring back injury. The 28-year-old has been in and out of the Indian team in 2023 as he has regularly complained of lower back pain since the Test series against Bangladesh in December 2022.

The news of Iyer’s unavailability comes a day after Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan made himself unavailable for IPL season 16 due to personal reasons. Hence, the KKR management has a humongous task at their hand of finding an ideal replacement for their regular skipper.

Let’s look at the three possible replacements for Shreyas Iyer in the KKR squad:

3. Priyam Garg

The 22-year-old was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad for two seasons in 2020 and 2021 respectively. However, he couldn’t make the most of the opportunities and could only manage to score 251 runs in 17 innings. 

However, the Meerut-born batter has an outstanding record in first class cricket where he’s scored 1639 runs at an average of 51.21 with four hundreds and ten fifties to his name. These numbers are a testament to the incredible batting prowess the youngster possesses.

Hence, he deserves another run in the cash-rich league and the KKR management could look at Garg to provide stability in their batting order. In the first game that the side played against Punjab Kings, their middle-order looked weak and Garg's inclusion can help them bolster their squad.