IPL 2023: Aarya Desai joins Kolkata Knight Riders for remainder of tournament

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped in 20-year-old Aarya Desai for the remainder of the IPL 2023 season. The franchise acquired the services of the player for his base price of INR 20 Lakh.

The southpaw plays for Gujarat in the domestic circuit and has featured in three First-Class matches thus far for the side. In his three outings for Gujarat, the batter has aggregated 151 runs with a career best of 88 runs coming against Vidarbha in a Ranji Trophy match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur in January.

Aarya has the potential to bowl a few overs and his off-break could be of some help for KKR at the iconic Eden Gardens, considering that spin plays an important role in the latter stages of the tournament. The batting all-rounder will look to ply his trade for the franchise and put his best foot forward in the top-tier league. 

Meanwhile, during the start of the season, Bangladesh veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan decided to opt out of the ongoing edition of the IPL 2023. The Bangla star all-rounder pulled out of the season, owing to his international engagements with the national team coupled with personal reasons.
 
Notably, Shakib missed KKR’s campaign-opener against Punjab Kings as did wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das. However, the franchise has been handed with a major boost as both Litton and English star batter Jason Roy have joined the KKR camp and will participate for the remainder of the season.

Litton has got 1617 runs in 71 T20I matches with 10 fifties to his name. On the other hand, Jason Roy has aggregated 1522 runs in 64 matches for the national team, lacing it with eight half-centuries. The two will look to produce their best game whenever they get their chance to take the field in the upcoming matches.