KKR sign Colin de Grandhomme as Andre Russell's replacement

New Zealand all-rounder, Colin de Grandhomme, has been named as the replacement of West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad ahead of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. Russell had been a phenomenal performer for the KKR franchise in the previous editions. His ouster from the tournament meant a severe dent in the line up for the two time champions.

Russell was banned from all forms of the game after he reportedly failed a series of drug tests under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. Despite his appeal against the ruling, there was not much relief for the hard hitting Caribbean all-rounder. While most of the fans are disappointed with his exclusion, skipper Gautam Gambhir is seeing this as a good opportunity for other players to step up. Amidst this scenario, drafting in of Colin de Grandhomme has come as a big bonus for the Knight Riders.

De Grandhomme has played in 6 Tests, 9 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 8 T20 Internationals (T20Is) for the New Zealand cricket team thus far. He made his Test debut for New Zealand in late 2016 and marked the occasion with a six-wicket haul. His figures of 6/41 on Test debut at the green seaming surface at Christchurch put his names in bold letters in the history books of Kiwi cricket. He broke the 65 year old record of having the best figures on a Test debut.

The Zimbabwe born 30 year old all-rounder is a T20 veteran and has played 100 T20s thus far. He has 1772 runs to his name with 6 fifties to go along with his tally of 40 wickets. Kolkata Knight Riders commence their IPL 2017 campaign on 7th April, 2017  when they play the Gujarat Lions at the SCA Stadium.